Argentum Canalis
by Emerald Sonata
Summary: Suzu and all female inhabitants on the island of Airantou have lived in blissfully peaceful times. However, a demonic threat begins to rise and a strange boy that floated to the lost island is the key to stopping them. DURAIVYR CODE ACTIVE – START UP!
1. Mina Ohaiyou!

_**The original cast of **_**Nagasarete Airantou**_** and other anime, rightfully belongs to Takeshi Fujishiro and Square-Enix, as well as other respective owners.**_

* * *

**Argentum Canalis**

PROLOGUE  
{Mina, Ohaiyou!}

Morning shone up high in the clear blue sky after a haggard night of the raging storm. Through the open door panels, light spilt over the wooden floor, a futon, and a slumbering young girl, with a soft round object on the top corner of her mattress. She had long soothing brown hair, a round and delicate face with full of hidden energy, wore a thin and loose white sleeping robe, and her slender body frame, at the age of fresh 17, was concealed under the cottony covers.

The pink orb twitched before rolling over to one side. It rolled up a rather large pig snout, blinked open a pair of tiny black eyes, popped a pair of pig ears, and sprung out a curly pig's tail.

"Pu," it said. Without any noticeable feet, the tiny piglet-like creature hopped onto the girl's head. She stirred, moaning from her pleasant dream. Her eyes opened to reveal to the world her crystal blue orbs of shining innocence and wisdom. Not having to look up, she smiled as she buried her head deeper into her pillow while she stretched her body.

"Ohaiyou, Tonkatsu…" she grinned.  
_[Morning]_

The piglet, Tonkatsu, hopped on her head with an energetic air, "Puu, puu!"

Suzu pushed herself up to sit on her futon and stretched out her arms to her sides with a light giggle.

"It sure was a scary storm last night. I hope everyone in the village is alright."

"Pu." Tonkatsu leapt off Suzu's head and she caught it in her arms. The tiny creature turned to her.

"Were you scared Tonkatsu?"

The piglet was a single round being without a visible head or body. One could say that it was fused together as one. The creature shook it's head/body, "Pu-pu."

Suzu's smile faded a little, "I was…I don't like storms…But…" She brightened once again, "With you being with me, I don't have to worry about being alone!"

Tonkatsu smiled, its eyes turned upside-down Us, "Pu! Pu!"

[******]

Suzu grinned widely, "Ohaiyou!"

"Ah, Suzu-chan. Ohaiyou!"

"Ohaiyou!"

"You too, Suzu!"

"Mina, ohaiyou!"  
_[Everyone…]_

"_Ohaiyou!_"

The young girl happily strolled down dirt path of her villager and farm-grounds, pulling a small but full cart behind her, with Tonkatsu riding across the top of her head. She was dressed in a blue and white Japanese garment, with short sleeves that reveal her shoulders, a white cotton sash around her waist, a short white skirt, long white tabi stockings that reach up midway across her thighs, brown shoes, and a lovely blue bow tie, in the shape of a sharp butterfly, which tied her hair in a long ponytail that reached all the way down to the level of her ankles.

Suzu strolled along the village grounds, passing by fellow villagers of all kinds, dressed in traditional Japanese garments of all types. The one exception to the 'of all kinds' was a fact that Suzu did not keep in mind very often, or at all; the entire village was populated by women of all ages; not a man in sight.

"Suzu-chan!" called a fellow village girl.

"Hai!" The blue-clad girl came to a stop as a pair of village girls approached her, "Mia-san, Ruka-san. Ohaiyou!"

"Ohaiyou," smiled the one named Ruka.

"Here, Suzu, can you take them to the Chizuru-sama's shrine? She asked for an order of these," said Mia.

From behind their backs, Ruka and Mia pulled out white carrots – _**huge**_ white carrots, equalling the size of a full-fledged body builder. And with ease, as one could add. Unfazed, Suzu nodded.

"Of course." With equal smoothness, she picked up _both_ white carrots and placed it into her cart. They lay among a rather large – in size – assortment of vegetables, fruits, and cans of milk. Suzu was charged with the delivery of grocery, as part of her chores and work as with everyone on the island.

"Arigatou!" thanked Mia.  
_[Thank you!]_

"Ja ne, Suzu, or Obaba would think we're lazy if we don't get back to work," added Ruka. With that the two girls left to return to their chores on in the vegetable fields.

"Ja ne!" waved back Suzu. With a hearty giggle, she curled under the wooden reins of her cart and trotted off.  
_[See ya]_

[******]

"Obaba!"

A small and wrinkled old lady perked her head up from deep thought, eyes opening from mental reminiscence. The senior wore an old and slightly tattered murky-dark and plain green kimono. Her hair was as white as snow and was loosely tied back in a bun and her eyes were dark black. She straightened as she was kneeling in the middle of her spacious living room of her old-fashion Japanese house. She turned around on her square mat, meeting a pair of round blue eyes belonging to a sweet young girl she knew ever since she was born. The lady cracked a youthful grin, her voice clear and crisp.

"Ah, Suzu-chan, you came."

"Hai, Obaba!" grinned the girl. She reached over out of sight from the Obaba's open doorway and pulled out a rather large metal milk-tank, "Here's the fresh milk you wanted, Obaba."

"Thank you, Suzu-chan, you can leave it at the step and I will handle it later."

"Do you want me to do it?"

"No, that is alright."

Suzu returned a nod before setting the tank down at the stone steps. She brushed off her tender hands then waved a gentle good-bye, "Ja ne, Obaba. I have more deliveries to carry out."

"Suzu-chan…"

Before Suzu even had a chance to go down the steps, she faced her village elder again, "Hai?"

"Have…" the old lady hesitated, almost chewing her thoughts out before they were heard, "Lately, have you heard of anything…unusual?"

Suzu blinked, "Un…usual?"

"Yes."

"Like what?"

"…Say an strange creature lurking at night or…things out of the ordinary happening on the island?"

"Mmm…Other than the big storm last night, I'm not so certain…Doushita no?"  
_[What's the matter?]_

"…Iie…nandemonai…" Obaba sighed.  
_[No…nothing at all.]_

Suzu leaned forward over the elevated flooring of Obaba's front porch, "Hontou."  
_[Really?]_

Obaba only nodded in pondering silence. Suzu respectively dropped the subject.

"Then I'll be leaving. Ittekimasu," faintly smiled Suzu.  
_[I'm heading off]_

"Itterasshai…" uttered Obaba.  
_[Take care / Go and come back safely]_

Suzu then leapt off the steps, took up her cart reigns, and went on her way while humming a pleasant tune, with Tonkatsu in the cart and following her song. When she was out of eyesight and earshot, Obaba gave a distraught glance down at the wooden floor covered with mended dry grass mats.

Since the beginning of a few days ago, the old lady had been having these inkling feelings. She had never experience it before and it felt it represented a bad omen. Lately, the feeling has gotten stronger and it really distracted her from everything else. Maybe she would go and visit the miko master up on the hill…or maybe it was just her imagination. Obaba sighed again, standing up for her full height no taller than 1 and a quarter of a meter stick, and made her way to fetch the milk.

She could only pray to the Sea Dragon God that all was well and at peace for the island's inhabitants.

[******]

"Chizuru-sama! I'm here!"

A young and mature Japanese priestess perked her head up, from her chore of sweeping the temple grounds of fallen leaves, and turned to meet a familiar blue clad girl.

"Ah, Suzu-chan. Welcome," smiled the priestess, "How are you?" The miko was donned with her traditional priestess clothing of a white upper robe with long and baggy-like sleeves and a long dark blue skirt, along with tabi and wooden sandals. The island's priestess, Chizuru, smiled in greeting to the young girl that had brought along a pair of white carrots.

"These are for you, Chizuru-sama!" giggled Suzu. The miko graciously accepted them after resting her wooden broom to the ground.

"Arigatou gozaimashita, Suzu-chan."  
_[Thank you so much]_

"Douitashimashite! Anou, how are Ayane and Machi-nee?"  
_[You're welcome. Um…]_

"KYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The two females jumped at the shrill scream that felt like it were the cries from the unknown beyond itself.

Chizuru sighed with a faint smile, "Ara…looks like they're at it again."

"AHHH! ONEE-SAMA! I DIDN'T MEAN TO EAT YOUR CRACKERS! THEY WERE RIGHT THERE IN THE OPEN! GOMENASAI!!!"  
_[I'M SORRY!]_

"Hu-hu-hu-hu…you won't escape my wrath…"

"IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Suzu sweatdropped, "They're fine alright…"

"Ah, by the way," spoke Chizuru. She placed the carrots to the ground and then rummaged into her left sleeve for a second. She then pulled out several pieces of enchanted seals and placed it into Suzu's hand, "Take these."

"Eh? What for?"

"It's hard to say…but lately I've been feeling a dangerous presence on the island…"

"Really?" blinked Suzu.

Chizuru nodded, "I best advise you place some on your doors and keep one or two with you at all times. I may be a miko, but I am the only capable one to ward off evil spirits on this island. I won't be able to help you or the others that quickly if you happen to be far away or alone." The priestess then softly touched Suzu's cheek with a beam, "Take care of yourself, ne?"  
_[Okay?]_

"Um, I will," nodded Suzu.

Then the two girls jumped again at another cry.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! TASUKETE!"  
_[HELP ME!]_

[******]

"Delivery!" cheered Suzu. The girl came to a stop before what seemed to be a construction site. Wooden panels and columns were set up in a frame of a house as wood, nails, carpentry utilities, and many others were placed about. From where she stood from, she could already see several familiar faces hard at work.

"Ah, Suzu-chi," called a deep male voice. Suzu turned to be greeted by a large – but short compared to Suzu's height – blue and white penguin that wore a purple worker's robe. "What have you got for us today?" he said with a fold of his small arms/wings.

"Lots of lots of goodies, of course!" giggled Suzu.

"Great, I'm dead beat…" Suzu turned to meet two other human-like animals that came up to her and the penguin on their hind legs. One was a monkey with green worker's robes and the other was a tall squirrel with a white band around its head and had identical clothing as the penguin. The squirrel wiped the sweat off his brow and sighed, "So glad you're here. I thought I would never get a break."

Suzu could not help a laugh, "Konnichiwa, Hako-san, Zako-san, Mako-san. Genki?"  
_[Hello…How are you?]_

"Quite well," chuckled Zako, the monkey, with a buzzy male tone.

"Is Rin doing alright?"

That was when a female voice, with a boyish tone, cried out in frustration.

"GAAAAAH! MIKOTO GET OFF ME!"

"NEVER, RIN-NEESAMA! I WANT TO HUG YOU TILL I DIE!"

"STOP IT OR THE HOUSE WILL NEVER BE DONE IN TIME!"

Hako furrowed his blonde brows, multiple veins throbbing in each passing second. He then turned about, marching off towards a cloud of conflict, "OI, YOU TWO! STOP FOOLING AROUND AND GET BACK TO WORK!"

Once again, Suzu nervously laughed and sweat-dropped.

"Say Suzu," called Mako, the squirrel. Suzu's attention shifted as Mako continued, "Have you seen anything weird lately?"

"You too?"

"Me too? What do you mean? Did some wood or trees get shattered as well with you?"

"Eh?"

Mako folded his arms, staring down at the ground in deep thought, "Lately some of our wood supplies were splinted or clawed up. Some even had monstrous bite-marks on it or so."

"Not to mention loads of trees at the edge of the Western area were ripped out of their roots without mercy…" added Zako. The squirrel nodded.

"Also, one logging house we were working on far off was almost done, until it was found to nothing but a pile of sawdust the next morning," finished Mako. A shivering feeling went up Suzu's spine.

It seems Obaba and Chizuru are not the only ones who are experience suspicion of strange activity on the island. The poor girl never even knew what was going on.

[******]

Suzu was strolling through the village again, her cart now half full of massive plants, vegetables, and fruit. She was humming along with her friend, Tonkatsu, on top of her head. She kept the recent news in the back of her head, thinking that it might be the other's imagination or something that will subside in a day or two. She just hoped she was right.

"Panako-chan!"

The one before her was a rather small and adorable pink elephant, with a short trunk, tiny tusks, and wore a maid's apron around her waist and it turned to greet the girl.

"Suzu-chan, konnichiwa," bowed the elephant, Panako.

"How is Chikage-san?" asked Suzu, pulling her cart to a stop next to Panako.

"Chikage?" wondered Panako at first, "That book-worm, she's at it with her habits again. I don't know what she'd done but her last experiment blew her face up and now left a horrible smell in our house. I was just heading into the village to buy some smell repellents to get rid of the stench." The pink elephant sighed, and Suzu can relate to it.

"Chikage-san always loves to play around with something new and different. You really can't blame her…"

"I know…but I wish she would always clean up her book-filled room once in a while. The newest thing she found is so dusty, I could barely try to clean her room without sneezing."

Suzu blinked, "Newest thing?"

"Hai," confirmed Panako, "She said she found them by the base of the island's Mt. Fuji. They looked strange when she showed them to me, but that didn't matter as much when she came home that day all caked and tattered in mud and moss…" Panako sighed again, "It was a big mess to clean up, both her and home…"

"What is it?"

"I have no clue. But it looked like an ancient plate with carvings on it. I'm quite surprise that such a fragile piece of china that old was still intact…it didn't even break when Chikage dropped it after she'd passed out…"

Now the news was starting to bother her. These things were not the same things that she would usually hear every morning for the past 10 years or so. It felt…creepy. Was the island undergoing some change…or was it truly everyone's imagination.

Oh well, she mental breathed, might as well finish up the last stop at Kagami's house. And that was where she had stopped by. Suzu skipped to the door and was about to knock when she heard faint noises behind it. The girl curiously pressed an ear to the door, hearing a sort of commotion behind it. Gently, she rapped her curled finger on it a couple times.

"Moshi – moshi?"  
_[Hello?]_

Suddenly the door slid open and a blur of brown fur sprung out with a yelp. Suzu squeaked and evaded out of the way in time – thanks to her martial arts training. She gracefully did a low back-flip before landing into a crouch, surveying the events before her.

"GOT YOU!"

A human-like pink and green blur shot out of the open door and tackled the brown blur in an instant. Clouds kicked up, engulfing both figures whole, and Suzu fanned it out of her face. When the dust dies, it reveal a young girl in a pink kimono, with emerald green hair and matching eyes, lying on top of a bear that was twice her size, with a white crescent moon mark on its chest. She playfully giggled and tapped a hand across the bear's fore-head.

"Hee-hee. Tag, you're it!"

"Ah, Kagami-san. Kuma-kuma," called Suzu with a grin.

The girl known as Kagami perked her head up, along with the bear Kuma-Kuma, and turned to see who called them, "Hora…if it isn't Suzu-chan. Want to play with me?"

"I'm just here for your delivery," giggled Suzu.

Kuma-Kuma stood up to its feet, picking up Kagami on the way. As she stood, it was seen that she was quite small, possibly able to pass off for a 15 year old.

"Oh, okay," replied the girl, almost pouting.

"Yukino is off picking berries isn't she? But…wouldn't Kuma-Kuma be with her as well, they always go to the berry fields together," pointed out Suzu.

"Ah…that…" a concern washed over Kagami's smile, "She's staying home for now. She's in the backyard playing with her other animal friends. I was just bored so I chose to play with Kuma-Kuma," she turned to the bear, "Ne?"

"Kuma-kuma…" nodded the bear.

"Stay home?" said Suzu, surprised, "That's a bit unlike her…" The expression on Kagami's face faded, replaced by that of severe worry and doubt.

"Something is going on in the forests…"

"Eh?"

"Several animals were attacked and received severe injuries. Some of the bridges to connect with the other island areas have been severed…and some spirit temples were found demolished…"

Suzu could not help a frightened gasp and hard gulp, "Re-really?"

Kagami nodded, stroking a hand against Kuma-kuma's furry belly, "Um…That is why until the reasons for all this happenings have been cleared up Yukino will stay home for now. I'm worried that she and her animal friends would get hurt…badly…"

Suzu quietly returned the gesture, "I…understand…"

"Kaaaaaa-saaaan!" called out a voice of a young girl from within Kagami's house, "Where are you? This isn't the time to for games, Kaa-san, we have chores to do!"  
_['Kaa-san' short for 'Okaasan' = Mother]_

Kagamai's face brightened with a lovely smile, before it snapped into a cute grin and a girly giggle, "Hai, Yukino-chan, I'm coming!"

"Matakun, Kaa-san, I can't believe you're still obsessed with playing around at your age."  
_[My goodness]_

Kagami's smile shattered and veins popped all over her head.

"WHO DID YOU CALL BEING AT MY AGE?!"

Suzu blanched a little, at the same time hearing an 'eep' from within the house. The pink blur returned and zipped into the house faster than a bullet could leap out of a gun, sending Suzu's hair flying horizontally for a moment.

"AAAAAAAAH! KAA-SAN GOMEN! GOMEN!"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING AT MY AGE TO PLAY GAMES? EVERYBODY HERE GROWS OLDER AND STILL DO!"

Suzu nervously chuckled. The only thing she could do now was to take Kagami's delivery out of the cart, hand it to Kuma-kuma, and slowly departed without a word.

[******]

The girl, Suzu, returned back to her small wooden house with paper screens. It had been a long day, but she was not at all surprise that it had passed an hour after the noon sun. For now, her main work was done as there were no other deliveries need to be made. Since she had almost the rest of the day off, she had a nice plan to relax: fishing.

It was both a pleasurable hobby she enjoyed, as well as a way to catch food for the night's dinner with Tonkatsu; two birds with one stone, she grinned. Just as she stopped by the side of her house and lowered the cart reigns to the ground, locked up thoughts tipped over and poured into her mind.

What was happening on the island? Suzu could not quite get it, plus she admitted to herself that she was a slow learner. Still, she knew the island's ways from the inside out and have never heard of such events in her life. Strange creatures? Dangerous presence? Trees, houses, bridges, and temples been destroyed? If it was the cause of storms or natural disasters, then that was something Suzu would not have to pay attention much. But it was not cause by anything natural. Rather, it felt unnatural that such things had occurred.

Suzu gulped and looked around. She had a gain and loss as to where she lived. She resided upon a small hill and cliff that face the ocean, being peaceful and quiet from day to night. The problem was her home would be cut off from and help that would come quickly enough. The girl shook the thoughts out of her head, trying to think nothing of it as she entered a nearby closest within her house.

It could have been the storm, she thought to herself, no more no less. There was nothing dangerous on the island of Airantou – besides the Eastern Leader and carnivorous plants and animals of the Eastern area…Nothing else.

With a confident nod, she beamed as she picked up her rod with a sturdy string and hook attached to it. Her friend Tonkatsu hopped up and landed onto her shoulder.

"Pu-pu!" it chimed energetically.

"That's right, Tonkatsu. We're going fishing!" giggled Suzu, completely forgetting everything else, "Let's catch something really good!"


	2. Hook Line START UP!

_**All characters, abilities, and other elements marked with '*' belongs to Emerald Sonata. Any technology, places, and other factors unheard of from the anime also belongs to Emerald Sonata.**_

_**The original cast of **_**Nagasarete Airantou**_** and other anime, rightfully belongs to Takeshi Fujishiro and Square-Enix, as well as other respective owners.**_

* * *

**Argentum Canalis**

EPISODE 1  
{Hook. Line. START-UP!}

The calm ocean waves rolled over the beach and against the sea-side cliffs. The sun slipped out from behind a fluffy cloud, casting its warm and sweet golden rays down onto the land of the island. Rather sphere-like seagulls with small wings and beaks, but with large black eyes, circled the shores and waters along the blissful breeze.

A pair of feet came to a stop at a narrow edge of earth, standing high above the ocean face. Its owner stood up straight, with both an innocent and energetic atmosphere around them. With a smile, the person began.

"Se – no…" The girl reeled back her fishing pole and with one graceful throw she sent the line flying, "Now!" The hook and floating ball sailed into the winds in an arc, landing softly onto the water with a nice plop.

Suzu giggled as she sat across the edge of the cliff she stood on and held her fishing rod steady in both hands. Her round pink pet and lifelong friend Tonkatsu came hopping to her side and sat with her as she waited.

"Just you wait, Tonkatsu, and I'll be able to catch us a nice fish for dinner tonight!" Suzu said brightly.

"Pu! Pu!" called the orb-like piglet as it happily bounced on the spot. Suzu took in a deep breath of fresh sea air and smoothly let it all out. It was a refreshing day after doing her work and she was glad.

"Wah…it such a nice day today…I'll bet that after the storm last night, we might be able to find a lot of good fishes for the next few days!"

"Pu!"

Suzu gauged her grip a little, easing up on her hold to let it balance loosely, but securely, in her hands. Her mind drifted off a moment as she stared up at the clear blue sky, a halo of seagulls in flight.

She loved everything: the sea, the land, the sky, the animals, and most important of all her friends and fellow villagers that lived on her home island. Things were always so peaceful, she thought, that is until what she had heard recently. Nevertheless, she believed to be joyful and content and could not think of anything else she would want. Life here was always full of surprises and happiness; no more, no less. And Suzu was glad that everything was always the same around here.

The line of her rod tugged at her consciousness and it took her a few seconds before she jumped in her seat. Her hands instinctively gripped the rod's handle and she fought for control for a minute. Finally, she went for the catch.

"Got one!" she called out.

Tonkatsu bounced with pleasure, "Pu! Pu!"

With the ease of her well-trained strength, she pulled out…

"HEI!"

...A human......_**A HUMAN?!**_

Suzu's mind snapped with realization as to what was hanging out from the sea by her line. True enough, it was a human…a strange one as well. The person felt similar to Suzu, but he looked entirely different to anyone she had ever seen on the island; very different. Without hesitating, she reeled in her catch as quickly – and as carefully – as she could.

The captured body was pulled out across the shores by Suzu's hands, as well as by Tonkatsu's 'mouth'. When the body was cleared away from the ocean's reach, Suzu knelt down to its side.

"Ne-ne! Are you alright? Wake up!" Suzu frantically shook the body awake but to no avail. It was during this moment when she noticed the peculiarity of this particular stranger.

It looked like Suzu and the other villagers she know, but it lacked several characteristics compared to her body and looks. It had short spiky dark blue hair, a quiet but pained expression, wore some sort of silver garment with blue lines with long sleeves and a pair of matching pants, metallic-like shoes, a belt full of all sorts of weird tools, fingerless gloves with steel knuckle-caps, and had a strange wrist band with another device that was in the shape of a golden tear-drop.

Suzu's curiosity got the better of her and she crawled over to his other side to inspect that very device on his wrist. She had never seen anything like it – besides some inkling feeling it could relate to Chikage's objects she would find that floated onto the island's shore. It was gold with crimson lines and patches. The center was some piece of blue-tinted glass, with strange symbols that she could not comprehend. If she had not known better, it looked like something to what were taught at school. Letters and number, was it called?

The girl shivered at the thought. She always hated schools, to the point of being terrified of it. She suddenly shook any other thoughts out of her head. Now was not the time. Now it was the time to help this poor stranger.

"Please, wake up!" called Suzu once again. By instinct, she started to push down on the boy's stomach multiple times – with as light strength as possible for her part. Equal to that of the other girl's standard power, she kept at it but the stranger made no reactions. Fruitless, Suzu pulled back and quickly counted her fingers, "Eeto…What else was there to do in CPR? Ah, I remember!"  
_[Uh…]_

The girl scooped up the stranger in her arms. Its body was heavy, she thought. She then puckered up and leaned in for a lock of lips, but stopped herself. For some reason, a voice in the back of her mind told her that what she was about to do was not a good idea on the long run. She even believed it as she reminded herself that her strength was…way above average.

Gently, she rested the strange back down. The only thing she could do was caress the stranger's soaked forehead and turned to her pet, "Tonkatsu! Quick, go get Obaba for help!"

[******]

The stranger laid in a futon, the covers over its body and up to the shoulders. Suzu and Obaba were knelt by the stranger's side, at his left and right respectively. The girl had a worried look on her as she stared at the stranger's sleeping face, while Obaba quietly examined it with careful eyes.

"So…" she finally spoke out, "You…found this person drifting onto the island?"

Suzu nervously twiddled her fingers, "Anou…more like fished him out…"

Obaba looked at Suzu with silence, before returning her gaze back down, "I see."

"Is she alright? Who do you think she is?"

"For now, yes. Probably a drifter that was trapped by last night's storm. It must be the Sea Dragon God's fortune smiling on this poor soul to be able to make it here in one piece…" Then Obaba stopped herself for a second, "Hmm? _She_?"

Suddenly a low murmur and echo of curiosity filled the Obaba's living room. Suzu looked around, surprised. All of the female villagers – the only populace on the island of Airantou – were gathered about outside. They were cramped and squeezed together so they could get a good peek at the stranger. None of them have seen anything like that person.

"Yes, Obaba. What is she?"

"She doesn't look like a girl like us…"

"Wonder if she's from the outside world…"

"Her clothes looks so different…it doesn't suit her at all."

A vein popped on the back of Obaba's head and…

"THERE'S NOTHING SPECIAL TO SEE HERE! NOW GET BACK TO WORK YOU LAZY BUMS!"

…All the girls scattered from the house with a startled shriek. Obaba sighed, "You really can't blame them, as they've never seen anything like this person before…an interesting rarity indeed."

Still rightfully remaining, Suzu leaned in closer to inspect the stranger.

"Who exactly could she be, Obaba? Her chest seems flat compared to ours and her body looks so different."

Obaba regained her steady composure as she locked eyes with Suzu, "Why is this person so different from you or I, you ask? Do you wish to know?"

"Hai," confirmed Suzu, steeled and ready.

"Well…" uttered Obaba, "That is because…"

"Um-um!" nodded Suzu.

"That is because…"

"Um-um!"

"……He's a boy."

The horde filled Obaba's small room like a shrieking flood, "A BOY?!!!!!!!!!!"

"………………_**WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, AN OLD HAS-BEEN?!! EVERYONE, GET OUT!!!!**_"

With the exact same speed they entered, the girls zipped out of the room in clouds of hurried and frightened dust. Obaba nonchalantly cleared her throat, returning to an unfazed Suzu. More or less unfazed that is.

To be honest, she was downright shocked.

"A…boy?"

Obaba nodded, "Sou…The same type of our people that disappeared from this island many years ago: a young man."  
_[Correct…]_

Suzu blinked and stared back down at the stranger, now knowing it was a boy about her age or older. He was still asleep, having a soundless dream or so. With a light smile, she gently brushed several of his dark-ocean blue hair from his forehead. For a moment, she could have sworn that the boy looked…relaxed by her touch.

"So…this is a boy…It's been a while since the island had one…" said Suzu.

"Hmm-hmm…" agreed Obaba. She then stood up to her feet – revealing her height to be quite short compare to Suzu's full size – and made her way out of the door, "Suzu…watch over him while I go fetch some medicine."

"Um! I will Obaba."

"And if those girls come gawking and squawking again," Obaba then added her last words with a scary tone and a burning black aura over his shoulders, "let them know that I'll personally see to it that they will never stick their nose into anything else but their unfinished work." With that she left.

Suzu sweatdropped and anxiously laughed – more for the other girls' sake. She turned to watch the boy in silence, thoughts wandering throughout her mind.

Who was he? Where did he come from? Where did he get such strange silver clothing? Particularly, what was that strange device on his wrist?

The girl snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something. It was the boy. He was stirring awake with moans, his head moving a bit.

"Ah, you're waking up!" smiled Suzu, "Daijoubu?"  
_[Are you alright?]_

The boy was both stirring and falling back to sleep, but nonetheless he was still moving a little. "I'll go get you some water. Wait for me!" said the cheerful girl again.

Suzu sprang to her feet, already making her way into Obaba's kitchen area. She took a clay-pottery cup from a nearby shelf and started to fill it with water from the house's water pump. She was so glad that the stranger was…

The girl's thought went dead silent and she stopped her pumping. Her senses kicked in and she felt something lingering behind her. Slowly and inconspicuously she set down the cup, before rummaging into her blue garments to draw out three small kunais; ninja throwing daggers.

She whipped about…and gasped. Before she realized it, it was the stranger that was behind her. His hair covered his eyes as he staggered at her, reaching out to her with a right hand. The moment she hesitated, not knowing what to do next, it happened. The boy faltered forward and tripped over the wooden threshold between the living room and kitchen. He limply fell onto Suzu, his right hand reaching way past her left shoulder and…

…Their lips touch…

The two fell onto the floor with a dull thud and silence followed.

Dazed and wide eyed, Suzu blinked as she was staring point-blank at the boy's closed ones. Their lips was locked with his; a kiss. Suzu gazed at the boy, but he had no reaction. Truthfully, it looked like he passed out again. Without breaking lip-contact, Suzu turned her head slightly to see what was the boy reaching for. It surprised her.

Gripped in his right hand was a snake – or rather a fat and frightened one with large beady eyes. It wriggled under the boy's hold, panicking with a toothless hiss. Gently, Suzu reached out to the boy's hand and helped to uncurl his fingers, setting the scared animal free and running without looking back. She then turned back to the boy, who was still lying on top of her in an unconscious heap.

He…saved her. Even if the snake was harmless…he thought it was about to hurt her. He was already that weak and exhausted, yet he tried to help her. It somehow gave her a warm feeling, and the taste of their kiss only made things even fuzzier. What was this weird feeling?

Slowly, the boy stirred. He started to lift himself off, his lips coming off of Suzu's. He lightly shook the haze out of his head and his eyes, such unique deep forest-green eyes with a special glint behind them, opened. Groggy and not-so-sober-like, he looked about. Suzu watched him slowly as he turned left and right, before his eyes fell onto herself. Their sights made contact for a short while, but it gave Suzu another strange feeling inside her. The strange boy looked down from her face to her stomach and then back up again. He finally woke up with a…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

He sprang back onto his bottom and scrambled on his hands and feet from Suzu. The girl bolted sitting up, watching the boy with curiosity and concern.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I!" he stuttered rapidly. Without looking, the boy over-shot the living and struck into the face of a cupboard against a wall, "Ow!" Its panels opened out and fancy china rolled off and onto him, "Huh? ACK!" With inhuman reflexes he caught them all, "No-no-no-no-NO!" and sprang to his feet, "Ha-ha!" That was until he missed one plate on the floor, stepped on it, and slipped, "Eh? WOAH!"

_**THUD!**_

Suzu slapped her eyes closed at the chorus of shattering and screaming. "Ah – Eek – Oof – Oh – Gack – Stop it – Yeow!" As soon as she heard frantic scuffling and clattering, she peeked through her fingers. The boy was now saving one last plate in his hand, but it kept bouncing out of his palms like a fish out of water, "No-no-no! Don't go down on me!" He slapped both hands onto it in time, "Aha, I got—" but it was against its rims. So, it leapt out off his grasp, smacked him in the face "OW!" and fell to the china-covered floor in fragments.

The boy's eyes were wide open with horror at the sight before him. He looked up at Suzu, down at the broken pieces, and then up again, "I…I………I…" In one fell swoop, he went onto his knees, curled up, and bowed head first into the flooring.

"_**I'M SO SORRY!**_"

Silence walked into the room between Suzu and the curled up boy. Softly, the girl went towards him on her hands and knees, carefully avoiding the sharp china fragments. The boy rapidly continued to plead with guilt and shame as he kept his head down onto the floor.

"Please forgive me – please forgive me – please forgive me – please—"

"Are you alright?"

The boy's green eyes opened up and his head sprung up into the air. In seconds, his face was already and inch away from Suzu's, their noses almost touching. He did not see any flame of anger or hatred, but rather a lake of concern and forgiveness.

"Are you hurt?" she asked again.

The boy gulped, "I…I…I……I don't know?"

Suzu noticed a bruise on his forehead and could not help but reach a slender finger to it, "You're hurt…" Her fingers touched the boy's skin and he winced. True it burned like heck, but…her touch made all the difference with a dash of heaven. He could only stare at her, with a blank expression that looked like he was watching a goddess.

"Who…who are you?" he asked.

"Suzu…Yours?"

"I…Igalis*."

Suzu blinked, "_Igarisu?_"

"I see that you're awake."

Suzu and the boy, known as Igalis, jumped at the deep female voice. They both turned to see the return of the old lady.

"Is everything alright, Suzu-chan? I heard…" Obaba trailed off when she spotted the broke china across the floor. Igalis noticed it and he looked at where she was looking. He face-faulted.

"GAH! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"

"Ah! I-it's okay, Igarisu! Obaba and I aren't angry at you!" comforted Suzu, "Ne, Obaba?"

The village elder was silent for a full ten second, her expression unfaltering. She finally released a sigh, "I guess I won't ask. Don't worry about it, I was meaning to throw those horrid things out for years but never could find the time to do so…Thanks for the help, young man. Now, I'll go fetch a broom."

[******]

"So…" uttered Obaba, now kneeling across her square mat, "your name is Igarisu."

"Um-um," agreed Suzu, kneeling by Obaba's side.

"Um…what do you keep calling me Iga_risu_? It's Iga_lis_…" spoke the boy sitting cross legged before the two females.

It was early evening by the time Obaba cleared out the rest of the broken china. Now, they sat together in order to figure out who and where the young man came from. From an obvious look of his silver and blue-lined clothing, he was definitely from somewhere different than Japan. Yet he was speaking Japanese like the others…only slightly less traditional and more linear. It was like basic straight-forward speech or so.

"We call you Igarisu is because you told us that it's your name, right?" wondered Suzu.

"But…how come it sounds different?"

"You are from Japan like us, correct?" asked Obaba. This caused the boy to perk up his head a bit in confusion, while Obaba went on, "You speak the dialect…yet it feels different."

"Japan?" blinked Igalis, "What's that?"

Both Suzu and Obaba were taken aback, exchanging glances with each other. He was speaking Japanese, yet had not idea what or where Japan is? Obaba made a mental note of it and toned down the subject for both parties to make more sense out of one another.

"How about you tell us who are you and where you come from," proposed Obaba. Without warning, the young man snapped at attention onto his feet with a crisp salute.

"I am Void Class, De-Evolution, Igalis Raideno, reporting to…to…" The boy trailed off as he curiously gazed down unto a pair of silent females, "Um…what's your status, madam and miss?"

"…Besides being the old granny of this village: none."

"Sta…tus?"

Igalis was taken aback as he plopped right back down in to his cross-legged seat, "What do you mean? How can you not have a class or id-status? We all live here on Citadal-1."

"Citadel-1?" Obaba softly parroted.

Igalis nodded before gesturing to Suzu, "Hm-hm. Didn't your fellow officer rescue me from sea and brought me back to base?"

Obaba sighed, "If you think that this is your home, it isn't."

"Eh?"

"This place is not called Citadel-1…rather Airantou."

"Ai…rantou…" uttered Igalis, "Strange, I've never heard of a Haven-City like that…And it doesn't have a number tagged with it…" As Igalis scratched the back of his head, Suzu leaned forward with a bit of excitement.

"You come from a city? Where?"

"Where what?"

"Where's your city placed?"

"In the sky. Why do you ask?"

Silence barged into the living space again. Suzu's face was blank and Obaba watched the young man with thoughtful eyes. Igalis was not at all fazed.

"The…sky?" wondered Suzu.

"Yeah…aren't we in the sky right now?"

Obaba let out another sigh, "Looks like getting to know you, Igarisu, is proving to be quite difficult on an entirely drastic scale…" Obaba's then tapped her finger across her lap, "Mind if you could tell us what has happened in the outside world?"

"Uh, sure," blinked Igalis. He then paused, "Uh, great, where do I start from?" It took Igalis a full minute to compile a good starting point for all of this – which from his perspective was an extremely difficult task.

"100 years ago, the former world powers were facing a crisis of the depletion of natural resources. This then caused tension and political struggle as countries bargained and fought over with one another in order to keep each of their economy surviving. Eventually, this led into small military skirmishes. From there, the fighting turning from guerrilla warfare to open-scaled war between all the war's major countries…" Igalis paused as he tried to recollected his thoughts, "And then…uh…Oh yeah! And then that is when the God's Fire Incident happened."

"God's…" uttered Obaba.

"Fire…Incident?" whispered Suzu.

Igalis nodded, "A name for the nuclear war that erupted at the near end of the 21st century…" Suzu had no idea what a nuclear war was, but it somehow sent cold shivers up her spine. Obaba get her usual expression, listening to all of it.

"The God's Fire Incident was where the countries launched each of their final counter assault in order to gain supremacy over the others: hydrogen-nuclear warheads – Now don't get me wrong, these nuclear warheads were redesigned to have the same destructive power but lack the radiation after affect, which prove to be helpful to keep any more casualties from rising on the long run."

Suzu and Obaba just stared at Igalis as he was waiting for a reaction or interjection of some sort. None came.

"Despite the nuclear destruction, the world could still be rebuild as there was a miraculous discovery of newer material. But…" Igalis's expression faltered a little, "there was a problem…"

"What?" wondered Suzu.

"A deadly biological species were suddenly born from the high-impact of the nuclear strikes and chemical mixtures of compressed hydrogen atoms. They were found hostile as they would kill every living being in their sight, not many were able to live and warn the rest. The military are powerless against them as well, despite the remaining super weapons we had left back then…Eventually, these biological creatures were identified as R.A.G.E*."

"R-A-G-E? Rage?" whispered Obaba.

"Yeah…_Reactive Amalgamate-Genus Entity_. Like you mentioned, RAGE for short."

"What did you do then?"

"Well, if I remember correctly the scientists and engineer of every countries' military forces banded together and produce the Haven-Cities; floating fortress for the rest of the surviving populace to escape the RAGE. Luckily, it's been found out that they can't fly or survive in the skies at all, so it was the only solution. Since then, humanity have been living in Haven-Cities above the clouds and that is how it all went to this very day…Don't you know that?"

"Hm?" Obaba was finally perplexed, "What do you mean?"

"If this isn't Haven-City Citadel-1, then this place must be Sentinel-2," answered Igalis.

"No," acknowledged Obaba with a blunt tone.

Igalis was taken aback for a second, "Polar-3?"

Obaba and Suzu shook their heads.

"Rook-4? Tortuga-5? Athena-6?"

No.

"…What about Grace-7?"

Also no.

Igalis glanced at the two females with quiet eyes. Slowly, he began to pale, "Then where am I?"

"As I mentioned before," said Obaba, "Airantou."

"But…there's not Haven-City called Airantou."

"Of course not…this isn't what you call a Haven-City…"

"…Eh?"

"You are on the surface of the world, in the middle of the ocean, on an uncharted island."

"………Eh?"

Obaba nodded.

"You mean…" swallowed a white-hued Igalis, "I'm…on the Earth."

"Um-um," agreed Suzu, "Heh? Obaba, what's 'the Earth'?"

"This world, Suzu, this world…"

"Then…" went on Igalis, "I'm…really on the ground?"

"Souna tori," nodded Obaba.  
_[That is correct.]_

"…………Wow…" Igalis leaned back with realization, "That's amazing…and I thought there were no more lands left ever since the God's Fire Incident or the appearance of the RAGE…not to mention 100 years…Whoa-ho…"

To the two females' surprise, the boy was actually intrigued and excited. He looked around him, this time taking in the sights more carefully than before.

"But…" interjected Obaba, breaking the quiet air, "That still does not explain as to why you are here…"

"Huh?" Igalis returned his attention to Obaba, "What do you mean…" He paused as he remembered something, "Oh, of course I was…" His eyes widen, "OH!" He bolted forward onto his hands and knees, causing Suzu to jump in her knelt position.

"I'M SUPPOSE TO BE SOMEWHERE?!!" Igalis then turned back to Obaba and Suzu, "Quick where's the nearest _Graiphon*_ I could find?"

"Gu…raiphon?" uttered Suzu. Igalis frantically nodded.

"Yeah – yeah! You know those armored strike helicopters! I was supposed to head to a particular destination to investigate for RAGE activity, but my own _Graiphon_ was caught in the storm last night and I crash landed into the ocean!"

The young boy wanted to spring up to his feet, but Obaba placed a hand onto his arms to stop him, "We don't have something like that…neither do I know what a 'helicopter' is…"

"Uh…Well, do you have a _Whalix*_? You know a small naval combat vessel or…or a docked _Daedalium*_ battleship nearby?"

Obaba shook her head. Igalis gulped, as if he understood something.

"There is…absolutely no way to get off this island…right?" he wondered.

"What gave you that idea?"

"…A hunch?"

Obaba gave a light snort, "That is true, young man. There is no way off this island. I'm afraid you're stuck here…"

"……………Okay."

Obaba and Suzu snapped upright in their seats, staring at a now cheery looking Igalis. He sat back down with a wide smile of relieve.

"Aren't you…at all worried?" questioned Obaba.

"Why should I be? I've got a perfectly good explanation why I am unable to fulfil my current mission, and it's totally an unpredictable situation. There's no way they could have my hide because of that. Furthermore, I can concentrate in contacting any nearby Haven-City for extraction." His eyes brightened even more, "Oh-oh! Maybe I could request for them to accept you and the others trapped on this island."

"But…" uttered Suzu. She did not want to leave the island, it was her home. But she knew very well that Igalis did not mean to hurt anyone's feelings. By the glint in his eyes, she could trust both him and herself that he was a sincerely good person. He felt like a brave child wanting to make everyone happy.

"It's settle then," chuckled Igalis, wholeheartedly, "do you have a Trans-Com I could borrow?"

"A Trans-Com?" raised Obaba's eyebrow. She guessed there was no need for an answer.

"Yeah? A computer-tech with telecommunication access," nodded Igalis, oblivious of Obaba giving him a blank and expressionless stare, "Where can I find one?"

"…We don't have one."

Igalis paused, but his smile still lingered, "What?"

"As you will know in the near future, we have nothing to what your home has to offer. Think of us as…the living past of this world."

"Living…past?" blinked Igalis, his smile shattering, "You mean…no electricity…no computers…especially no military."

"No military," agreed Obaba.

"………Oh…So, I'm…"

"Stuck here for the rest of your life, yes."

"……"

"Anou…" pried Suzu, "are you alright, you look pale?"

"I…guess so?" squeaked Igalis. Despite his ever-cheerful personality, he finally had a look of defeat.

"Obaba!"

The three caught the sound of a frantic voice and they all turned to the open doorway of the living room. A female villager had just appeared, a look of panic in her eyes.

"Shion-chan?" blinked Obaba, "What's the matter?"

"There's a travelling girl with a wooden sword and a small cow that had just passed out on the road. They look like they've went through a lot and haven't had a decent meal in weeks. The others need your help!"

"Don't worry, Shion, I'll be there right away." The villager dashed out of view as Obaba rose to her feet, "Suzu, take care of the young man. I'll try not to take to long, alright?"

Suzu gave her elder a firm nod, "Hai. I'll do my best."

With surprising speed – for an old lady of her size and stature – she made a hasty sprint from her home and onto the village paths. Suzu watched her leave before she turned back to Igalis.

"Is there anything you want me to…Aree?"  
_[Huh?]_

A stray of strange, silver, and metallic devices were laid open before Igalis. One by one, he picked them up and examined them at every corner and face. He picked up an object with a glass screen and buttons with unique inscriptions on them and tapped it. It made no reaction, rather sparkled with tiny lightning before a trail of smoke leaked from its side.

"Great…Tac-COM is busted; RADI-link is fried; Photon Pistol's dead; Not to mention my Mp6 player is a 'bye-bye'; perfect, even the SOS emergency signal and receiver is no longer available for emergencies…" With a sigh, he released the clutter of 'junk' from his hands to let them spill uselessly onto the floor. Suzu knelt down and started to examine them with curiosity.

"What are these?"

"Standard issue equipment that I need whenever I'm on an assignment…Go ahead, have a look, they're all dead so there's no point for safety precautions." Suzu picked up a small rectangular device with a rusted black cover screen and rotating ring that she played around with her thumb. The device suddenly sparkled with electricity and it snapped a tiny explosion into Suzu's face, causing her to 'eep' and cough. A sweat-drop hovered over Igalis' eyebrow, "More or less…"

Suddenly his eyes bulged and fear drenched down his body like cold water, "Is it still alright?!" This caught Suzu's attention, while she was wiping a patch of soot from her cheek, who looked up.

"What is it, Igarisu?"

The boy whipped out his right hand, pulling back his sleeve to reveal his last piece of technology: his unique tear-shaped gold and red wristwatch. Suzu watched in silent as he pressed several buttons with his left thumb, a series of symbols and incomprehensible words flashing on its tiny glass face. Igalis released his tension with a exhalation of utter relief.

"Thank goodness this still works…"

"Is something the matter?"

Igalis looked up at Suzu and pulled out his wrist-watch for her to see, "The only thing that has survived is this: my Duraiv Complex*."

"Duraiv…Complex?" A series of question marks blinked all over her head. The young man nodded as he drew his wrist back to look at his watch with a smile.

"Yeah, it's been with me ever since I passed the Evolution examinations…It's built as a watch, a field-radio com-link, computational analyzer, and other neat tricks. But the most important function and meaning behind it is this: it makes me a Duraivyr*."

"A Duraivyr?" thought Suzu out loud, "What is that?"

Igalis opened his mouth to speak. Instead of words though, a low growling moaned into the air. The two had no idea what it was, but it was only for a second. They both looked down at Igalis' stomach as it rumbled loudly again, practically audible for everyone to hear. Igalis closed his mouth with a blush and Suzu giggled.

"You must be hungry," she smiled.

"Starving even…"

"Don't worry, Igarisu. Obaba has a fruit patch nearby so I'll go and fetch some nice food for you to eat!"

Igalis's blush deepened. He felt…warm all of a sudden. It was a nice and soothing feeling. From his experience, he had never met such a lovely and compassionate girl. He truly felt that this girl was not human, but really a goddess. Only goddesses could have such beautiful emotions and loving personality, he thought to himself.

Suzu elegantly rose to her feet, giving Igalis one more smile and giggle before making her way for the house's back doorway. "Wait for me, ne?"

"Al…alright…" Igalis answered with a faint smile, "I will."

"Ja ne!" With that the Igalis's goddess left.

The young boy was left alone, but not with a cold feeling. He stretched a grin.

"I'm so glad to have met you…Suzu…"

_Ping…Ping…Ping…_

Igalis's eyes snapped wide open at the sound of the 'pings' that echoed in the empty room. Instinctively, he glanced at his watch. The glass screen was blinking blue whenever the 'ping' echoed. The pings were slow and faint at first, but it steadily quickened and became louder. Others may have found the watch to be a strange thing…but Igalis knew its real purpose.

"Suzu…" he breathed. His eyes were tightly locked onto the glass, staring straight at the words that constantly flashed with the light and sound.

**{NU BLOOD – DETECTED}**

[******]

Suzu lightly skipped down a lane of Obaba's vegetable garden plants. Needless to say from Suzu's vantage point, the produce was massive and as tall as the girl herself. She hummed a gentle tune as she examined which of the vegetables were ripe and ready for a tasty meal.

Tonkatsu was already back at her house, ever since she had asked him to help find Obaba. She was so grateful to have him around, but thought best to have him return home in case of any other problems that may turn out. She giggled as she crouched down to gaze at a large red carrot and rapped it with a curled finger.

The poor boy must be starving, she thought. He was fortunate to have survived the storm last night, as well as arriving to Airantou safely. She thanked the Sea Dragon God for its divine protection over the island and Igalis. It was strange to find out that he was a male, where the island was lacking for a long time. It even amazed her of his origins. She wondered how was life while living in a large city in the sky? It must be a wonderful thing, she grinned to herself. But there was one question she wanted to ask herself…what was a Duraivyr.

Suzu bent down to pick up the carrot, knowing that it is ripe, and stuffed it into a tall cylinder-shaped basket that she had brought along with her. She doubted the carrot would be enough, so she rose to her feet, hefted the basket and carrot across her small back, and ventured on to look for luscious grapes.

Suddenly, her sharp hearing heard a rustle of trees. The girl stopped cold, eyes narrowed and ready. She listened again, hearing the trees moves once more. True, it was a windy day, but she recognized such sounds to be made by a creature; a rather big one as well.

"Ayane?" was the first name she thought of as she gazed around her at the forest. Ayane was a young miko priestess, not to mention a life-long rival to Suzu. She was always the sneaky type, relentlessly striking at Suzu from out of the blue or appeared to force a challenge between the two. She would even go so far as to take down Suzu with her specialty: a blow-dart. Still, thought Suzu, Ayane rarely made such loud noises if she wanted to catch Suzu off-guard – which never seemed to work.

"Ayane?" the girl called again. Something was not right, as the rustling grew louder. Accurately, Suzu could tell that even that sound was not made by Ayane herself. Something was coming…

The blue-clad girl softly set the basket off and down to the ground, as inconspicuous as possible to avoid attention. She slipped her hand into her upper garments, drawing out her kunais like before. This time, she waited.

That was when something moved behind her and she spun around. Before she unleashed her attack however, she stopped. What was now in front of her was merely a mole that surfaced. Its snout sniffed the earth around it, before it squint its eyes to clearly stare at Suzu. The girl released a soft sigh…wait.

A massive object crashed right down behind Suzu, uplifting a gale of wind that fluttered her skirt and long hair. The mole shrieked and shrank back into its hole, avoiding what was to happen next. Only hesitating for a horrified second, Suzu spun around. She came face to face with a large creature, totally different than the animals she knew on the island.

It was gigantic wolf-like demon, with literally-burning crimson fur, ferocious glowing yellow eyes, flesh-ripping razor teeth, and stone-crushing paws to boot. It threw its attention down unto Suzu, before it reared back to give an ear-piercing howl into the darkening sky.

Suzu slapped her hands to her ears, the demon's howl being to unbearable for human ears. When it stopped, it left a ringing noise in Suzu's mind as she stagger back in disorientation. The demon wolf lashed out without mercy. Suzu regained her focus and swiftly back-flipped in time for the demon wolf to crush the ground below her. She landed and kicked off the demon's burning fur, which singed the tips of Suzu's shoes. The girl screeched in surprise when she landed, quickly stamping her toes to the ground to kill the strange fires. What was this thing?

The wolf wildly turned and struck out again, jaws ready for the kill. Suzu gracefully ducked, letting the creature soar an inch over her head, and lashed out her stars into its belly. She then quickly rolled out of the way and the two combatants kept their distance for a short second.

Suzu watched with caution as the wolf spun around to meet her gaze. It shook its body, knocking off several melted pieces of Suzu's throwing stars. To her shock, the demon wolf was actually…grinning. With a dark sound, it chuckled as it began to stalk Suzu in a circle. The fighting girl kept her stance, only turning to keep the wolf from striking behind her.

In a split second it attack and Suzu flipped out of the way. Its claws swiped empty air, but not entirely. As if predicting her move the wolf rapidly swiped its other paw and was lucky to strike Suzu's legs. She yelped in pain as she collided into the broken dirt ground. The girl struggled to sit up, to run away even, but the last attack twisted and scarred her ankle and left her entire left leg too numb to move.

The wolf bellowed a laugh, almost human-like, and it readied itself for one last pounce to finish everything. Freezing terror singed Suzu as she frantically did everything she could to run, but it proved useless. Was this…the end? The wolf seemed to have read her thoughts as it locked its yellow eyes with hers, nodding to her question with a grin.

She did not want to die…she did not want Tonkatsu or everyone else to be alone…A tear trickled down her scratched cheeks.

With a mocking and triumphant roar, the wolf pounced.

"SUZU!"

She gasped.

A silver blur appeared and collided with the demon wolf, straight into its large skull. The creature flailed about before crumbling in a massive heap, upturning fresh earth and burning up several plants and vegetables in its wake. Suzu blinked just as the silver blur landed before her in a crouch. As it stood, she could not believe it.

"I-Igarisu?!"

Igalis stood upright, eyes narrowed and burning with an unknown fighting spirit. Trickles of flames danced across his right gloved hand, but it did not affect him nor its material. Instead, it burned it out with a flick of his hand. The demon wolf rolled back up to its feet, a shiner that clearly stuck to its wincing right eye. It barred its teeth, seething with fury beyond imagination.

"Surprised to see a guy like me here?" wondered Igalis with a strong tone, "Yeah well, I'm just as surprised to see a RAGE like you on this beautiful place!" The wolf growled as it started to take slow strides towards the boy and girl. It was not going to let up. "I won't let you hurt Suzu!" snarled the young man.

"Igarisu!" cried the girl. The boy pulled up his watch to his the level of his chest.

Then, Igalis shouted, "_Motorgrad*_!" He placed his other hand onto the watch and sharply twisted it around, rotating the tear-drop so that its pointed-tip faced the direction of his fingers. The device rapidly blinked with lights, a series of small alarm wails echoing for it. Then a mechanical voice echoed from its core.

**[\\ ****DURAIVYR CODE ACTIVE**** //]  
{^| START UP |^}**

The watch flashed a violent glow of bright light, practically radiated an entire quarter of the field. The wolf growled in pain as Suzu shielded herself from its brilliance. When the light died, she turned to look with amazement.

Igalis was now armed with a unique silver and blue weapon: a large, heavy-weighted, mechanical knuckle-duster that resembled a small shield-plating as it was attached to Igalis's silver-sleeved right fore-arm. It had short stubby jagged edges in its front 'striking' peak and its entire body was made out of pure golden steel. Dangling from its back end was a short chain with a small golden sapphire medallion with an imprinting of a four-pointed star. An aura of energy fluttered all over its surface like the glow from a pond before it too died out and solidified the weapon.

"Let's get this over with…" muttered Igalis and he took a step forward. Without warning the demon wolf struck out, claws ready for the kill. Nonchalantly, the boy turned sideways, letting both claws to narrowly miss his shoulder. The wolf gagged as it glance at the eyes of Igalis, bearing equal ferocity. "YAH!" The knuckle-duster struck heavily into the demon's throat and sent its body hopping into the air, "HIYAH!" Igalis whirled about and slashed a roundhouse kick into the wolf's gut with his heel, doubling it over like a fold-up table.

Suzu could not believe it…Igalis was amazing. His fighting prowess was several times faster and stronger compared to the results of her own martial arts training. To be honest, one could say he had the look of being unstoppable.

"Out of my face!" Igalis jumped up and flashed a snap-kick into the wolf's chest and sent it ploughing through the fields once again. Suzu watched as Igalis landed in a low and ready crouch, as if about to spring onto his opponent. In its crash, the RAGE rolled back to its feet and stormed at the boy with uncontrollable fury.

"_ANKAA MOUDO!_" Lines pulsed over Igalis' weapon, _Motorgrad_, and the shield knuckle-duster separated from the glowing veins. It then twisted and rotated about, immediately reassembling itself into a new heavy-weighted and triangular weapon. When it resealed the gaps, the weapon leapt off Igalis' fore arm and into the air. Its chain lengthened out like a living snake as it dropped down to its owner. The boy snatched the chain into both hands and yanked it down for the transformed heavy-end to swing under his arms and around in a circle in the air. Now, the weapon looked like a mace-like throwing anchor.

"Eat this!" Igalis spun about and then lashed the anchor form of _Motorgrad_ straight at the demon wolf. It smashed into its skull with a sickening crack and it reared back in wallowing pain. The boy twitched his wrist, reeling back the anchor to him with a tug of its long chain. Once by his side, he swung it around in a circle a few times before throwing it in a right-curved arc. As the wolf sputtered the dizziness from its head, it failed to react in time as the chain coiled around its neck. It was leashed tightly as it began to gag and claw at the binding restraint.

Igalis forcefully yanked, drawing in the RAGE with inhuman strength. He then swung his body around, his chain and anchor coiling around him like a cyclone, with the wolf following suit. The demon was flung about in the air until the boy twisted to a stop and whipped off its passenger. The wolf clawed the air before crashing back down to earth with a bone-snapping thud.

"Time to end it all, _Motorgrad_!" Igalis barked, "_SUPPATEN MOUDO!_" The chain swiftly retracted back into the anchor and it leapt out of its owner's hand. In the air before him, the anchor rapidly spun and it started to grow longer. Its body separated again and resembled into another form, a large longsword with a wide blade and a hallow space in its center. The change coiled into the weapon and it was casually captured into Igalis's waiting right hand. The boy readied himself, both hands on his sword before him. When the two combatants clashed, Igalis ducked under the wolf's swipe and smashed the blade into the demon's gut. Without letting up, he shoved an upward force to flip his enemy spinning in a quadruple axis before it landed in a heap.

Igalis narrowed his eyes, his left hand reaching for the short dangling chain of _Motorgrad_. He then yanked it, pulling it three times in total as the weapon roared with a power of an engine. The deep voice of _Motorgrad_ relayed…

**{(//) BURNING DECADE (\\)}**

Suzu gasped as sharp flames flickered over bladed-edges of Igalis's sword. The flames danced in a spinning motion around its blade, until all is edges was burning red with compressed hot plasma. To those who could recognize it, the sword's blade now acted as a wild, blazing, and sparkling red energy chain-saw.

The wolf howled and rolled back to its feet, longingly without mercy.

"EEEEERRRYYYAAAAAAAAH!" Igalis leapt forward and slashed his sword, a sparkling contrail of red stardust glowing through the air in its wake.

The two struck one another, now standing a meter apart from each other's back. Silence fell onto them. Suzu breathed slowly, hoping that one of the two was alright. Then it happened.

Several snips of dark blue hair fell from Igalis's head and onto his shoulders. A sparkling line of pure red energy sliced through the wolf's waist. The creature dropped its arms and keeled over like a rag-doll, before it erupted into black flames. Suzu shielded herself for a second before peeking over her folded arm. Before it disappeared, she saw an image of a frightening pair of scythes that crossed each other, made out of the black smoke. A skull face appeared on top of it, making it look like a black coat of arms, before it vanished into the air with an eerie bellow. Now nothing was left of it besides a pool of steaming crimson liquid. Igalis smirked as he turned about, _Motorgrad_ saying one last verse…

**{[vv] ****DURAIYVR – PHASE OUT**** [vv]}**

Automatically, Igalis's sword glowed with a reflective light before its body vaporised into digital particles. In the end, it reverted back to his watch and twisted the tear-drop to face the other direction, back to it original place.

"Now that's what a Duraivyr is!" chuckled Igalis as he brushed the dust from his fingerless-gloved hands, "We're a particular division in the military force and are charged with fighting the RA – UWAH!" Without looking, Igalis slipped on a large cucumber and staggered about to regain his balance, "WHOA-WHOA-WHOA!" Finally, he fell, "WAH!"

_**SPLOCH!**_

Suzu clamped her eyes shut at a sickening splash. Eventually, she dared her self to peek through her clasp and she gasped, "Igarisu!"

The Duraivyr was lying in the pool of molten…whatever it was…that was left by the destroyed RAGE. A stark-white horrified expression was plastered onto Igalis's face as he blankly stared up at the sky. Suzu could finally feel the senses in her legs and limped over to where the boy was. She then came by his side onto her knees, careful in not to touch the unpleasant red liquid.

"Igarisu? Daijoubu?"

"………yyyyyyyyyyyYUCK!!" Igalis sat up, feeling utterly disgusted with the sticky red liquid trickling all over his back, shoulder, arms, and legs, "This is nasty!"

"Don't worry, once you take a bath it will be all gone!" Suzu cheered him.

Igalis blinked and turned to Suzu with curiosity, "What's a bath?"

[******]

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh…"

Igalis slipped deeper into his 'bath' with an air of refreshment. He was seated within the bath section of Suzu's house, inside the tub made out of rocks with a flow of steaming hot water pouring into it from a nearby bamboo pipe. The boy dipped his whole body under the water's surface, only until his nose has passed its point. He blew bubbles from under the water, _U_s shaped on his content eyes. He then popped his head back up until he revealed his bare shoulders.

"So this is what she called a bath…" he sighed, utterly relaxed, "I wonder why we only have showers back in Citadel-1? Wish I could've had one everyday. It's just soooo good!" Like a blissful child he played around with the water, literally intrigued by its touch, smell, warmth, and other factors.

For the first time in his life, he was happy. Things were different here than from where he came from, interestingly different. He was absolutely amazed that such a comfortable place like this island still existed, in this already ravaged world. He thought that the God's Fire Incident had already wiped out such lovely places from the face of the earth. Even if they survived the incident, the melted Polar continents would have done the job anyways. It must be their luck that this island is still alive. Igalis sighed again, washing all the worries from his loose body. This was indeed a good feeling.

A knock echoed into the rook and Igalis opened his eyes from his thoughts, hearing Suzu's voice saying, "Igarisu. Is the bath alright for you?"

"Oh, definitely…How's your leg, Suzu?"

"I'm all better now, thanks for asking. Also, I've cleaned out the mess from your clothes. It would be dried and ready for you by tomorrow morning. You can borrow one of my robes after you're done with your if you like."

Igalis felt silent. She helped to clean his clothes? He lowered his gaze to stare into his own reflection. She was…a really nice person. Not many people he had met would do such a thing on their own. No one was like that, he thought.

"Igarisu? Doshita?"  
_[What's wrong?]_

"Eh…N-nothing. I'm fine. Thank you so much Suzu," said Igalis with a start, "This bath is really amazing. You should try it out sometime!"

"Why don't I join you now?"

"Sure, why…" Igalis' face fell. Before he spoke, the sliding door behind him already opened and he failed to hear bare-feet stepping towards him and the bath, "WHAT?!"

Igalis spun around; eyes locked with Suzu's – who was already shoulder-deep in the steamy bath. She sweetly smiled.

"You're right, it _is_ good," she giggled.

Igalis face-faulted, an anxious blue hue hovering the top of his head. Suzu blinked with curiosity as he wheeled around, his back to her.

"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-what are you doing in here with me?"

"What's wrong, Igarisu?

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-you…" the boy gulped, "You aren't suppose to be in here with me!"

Innocently, Suzu tilted her head, "Why?"

"We'd get in trouble if the others found out that we've broke the rule of 'No affectionate-relationships or infatuations at all times' thing! They'll have my head if they caught you…" Igalis stopped himself for a second and slowly turned halfway for Suzu to see his face a bit, "Oh right…I'm not on Citadel-1 anymore…"

"Why can't we be together?" blinked Suzu.

"Because rules and regulations are strict back in the Haven-City; real tight. Men and women were not allowed to have any other-than-work relationships with those opposite to their gender, without authorization or official consent from the Department of Social Control…"

Igalis turned to Suzu, seeing questions marks fluttering about her untied hair like puzzled butterflies. He then smiled, "Nothing…just a bit surprised to share the bath with you…that's all."

"Oh…" The girl then smiled as Igalis turned about again, "Why don't I scratch your back?" If Igalis was sitting on a seat, he would have keeled over. Actually, he literally capsized before resurfacing in a flash.

"EH?!" he squeaked, "BUT—" Before he could turn, Suzu embraced him from behind with a giggle. Then Igalis felt something pressed against his back, something he had no idea what it was. But by subconscious reflexes, his face blushed.

"I don't mind. I just love to scratch others' back!"

"BUT – BUT – BUT – BUT – BUT—"

Blood popped from Igalis's nose and it gently trickled down to his lips. The two stopped themselves with quiet expression, while Igalis curiously touched his nose.

"What's this?" He revealed his fingers with a spot of, "Is this…blood?"

Without a word, his head weakly hung forward and his entire body fell limp in Suzu's arms like a lifeless doll. The poor girl panicked as she attempted to wake the unfortunate boy.

"Ah! What's wrong, Igarisu? Why are you bleeding from your nose? Hang in there! Igarisu!!"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

'_ANKAA MOUDO'_ means **['ANCHOR MODE']**, the mace-anchor; _'BURONZU MOUDO'_ means **['BRONZE MODE']**, the shield-knuckle; and _'SUPPATEN MOUDO'_ means **['SPARTAN MODE']**, the hack-blade. (_Motorgrad's_ designs and abilities under the ownership of _Emerald Sonata_).

_Motorgrad's_ sword frame, **SPARTAN MODE**, was initially inspired by the Keyblade 'Hero's Crest' from _Kingdom Hearts II_, of Square-Enix.


	3. The Miko Sisters

_**All characters, abilities, and other elements marked with '*' belongs to Emerald Sonata. Any technology, places, and other factors unheard of from the anime also belongs to Emerald Sonata.**_

_**The original cast of **_**Nagasarete Airantou**_** and other anime, rightfully belongs to Takeshi Fujishiro and Square-Enix, as well as other respective owners.**_

* * *

**Argentum Canalis**

EPISODE 2  
{The Miko Sisters}

_Lightning sparked all over the murky and black-clouded skies as the ocean raged all over. Gales of wind charged like merciless soldiers and clashed with the enemies waves, tearing themselves apart into bloody white foam. Thunder trumpeted onto the battlefield as well, their spears of light aimlessly thrown to strike all in their path. In the midst of nature's war, a single metallic object floated through the wind's rank without a care: a bulky armored helicopter._

_The heavily built consoles of the chopper's cockpit glowed and flickered like stationary fireflies. Winds pelted against the glass shields, but it could never pierce through its ballistic and anti-beam coated surface. The wind shook its contents, but it was unsuccessful in bothering its single pilot._

_A long and ruffled map hovered before the helmet-less pilot, as he had one hand on the vibrating joystick to keep the entire vehicle steady. Though the winds were howling like mad, it did not bother him that much. The only thing that ticked him off was…_

"_Darn it all, how can anyone read this?"_

_Igalis lowered the map – more like it wilted away from his sight to one side – with a frustrated grimace. He would twist the map around and about, having absolutely no clue in comprehending it. What annoyed him the most is that the long and flimsy map would always keel a corner over to prevent him to get a better look._

"_Why did I ever take this assignment?" he muttered, "Oh right, because I'm a Duraivyr – not to mention the lowest of the low – and I have absolutely no choice but to accept it…" He then cursed under his breath, "I hate my Colonel…"_

_The young boy struggled to keep his craft balanced: an advanced battle chopper with a pair of solar-particle engines that acted like rocket-wings across its side; an _ARMS-PROJECT*_ battle vehicle, code named: _AR03 – Graiphon*_. The hard rain would pelt and pummel into its thick hull, but it could not even throw the craft off balance, let alone give it a scratch or dent. Still, it proved to be difficult in riding this torrent storm._

"_Let's see…" muttered Igalis. He let out a groan and released his hand from the joystick, simply clamping his knees to 'hold' it steady, and held the map aloft with both hands. The grip of his knees worked at first, but he failed to feel the joystick slowly slipping out of his clenches, "Former Russhia Republica would be…here! No-no, that should be Khanadha…But that doesn't make sense…" The joystick finally popped out of his knees and it began to twitch about on its own. The _Graiphon_ uttered a deep groan, which went unnoticed to the pilot it was warning to, and it started to be pushed about by the forces of the storm. "If Khanadha is here then Old Germnie should be over here, not Neo Mexikka…Up-to-date map my—"_

_The _Graiphon_ bucked to one side as he perked his head up. Everything felt silent. With a shrug, he buried his head back to the map. Slowly – once again, without his awareness – the _Graiphon_ started to turn…upside down._

"_Something smells fishy about this map and it's definitely not the last guy who used this bird…Wait…" Soon, he broke out laughing, "Woops, I've got the north pointing the wrong way. My bad…" With a triumphant grin, he began to flip his map right side up._

_That was when he realized his dark blue hair was hanging…up?_

"_Huh?" He looked about, "Is it just me or did the gravity system on this thing went haywire again?"_

_Lightning fiercely lashed down and struck the underside of the _Graiphon_, dead onto an unpredictable weak-spot. _

"_WHOA!" The _Graiphon_ bucked like a wild stallion. Warning lights and alarm stung his eyes and ears relentlessly. His console started to sizzle and burst with smoke. The boy grabbed his controls and yanked it to one side, turning his chopper right-side up to keep it afloat. He then swiped up a communicator device from its rack and clicked it on with his thumb, calling, "Mayday – mayday! Citadel-1, this is Duraivyr Operative Igalis Raideno! I'm hit and lost control of my bird! I repeat: mayday – mayday! I'm hit and lost control of my _Graiphon_!"_

_Another spark of lightning leapt from its cloudy carrier and struck his _Graiphon's_ back, ripping off the communication antennae. The line went crackling dead as he stared at his communicator with equal dread._

"_You're kidding me!"_

_Without anything to say to the dead-line, he tossed the scrapped device aside. He focused in keeping his craft upright, but the gales of the storm were finally getting to him. With a violent rattle, the vehicle dropped many miles down at a dangerously quick pace. Unable to endure the stress of the wind and fall, its tail snapped off with a mighty flash. The rush of falling surged up Igalis's body as he could barely breathe._

"_I…won't…die yet!" His main view screen cracked webbings across the glass, seeping in the storm's scent into his cockpit. He eyed his landing, nothing but the raging seas. He steeled himself as he narrowed his eyes, shining with determination to live, "HERE GOES NOTHING!" To get it over with, Igalis pitched whatever control he had left into full throttle. Soon, the next thing he knew was a deafening crash, the shattering of glass, the sparkling of electricity, the roar of thunder, and the plunge of ice-cold water that swallowed him whole. That was until light and a lovely call cracked his eyes open._

[******]

"IGARISU!"

The Duraivyr snapped his eyes wide open, his senses instantly awake. He finally realized that he had already sprung sitting up, remembering he screamed a second ago. Cold sweat drenched his body as he wiped more off from his face with his white covers. He let out a long and deep sigh.

"Oh God…thank goodness it was a dream…"

"Are you alright?"

Igalis turned to his left. He came to face with a vaguely familiar girl. She was pretty, he thought, as gorgeous and innocent as a goddess. She was clad in a samite-like gown – more like a white robe with a small gap that _V_'ed down to a point above the center of her chest. Her long loose brown hair cascaded across the white bedding on the floor and her eyes sparkled with pure sapphire. The boy chuckled.

"A very lovely dream…" he smiled, not-so-sober-like. He groaned, "Too bad that I have to wake up to another painful assignment and torment of a training regime…and I still hate that Colonel…" He softly fell back across his bed, "I'm so going to miss this dream…you too Suzu." He then snuggled himself against his bed and went back to sleep.

Igalis cracked open his eyes once more, this time more alert than before. He gently turned his head to face the wonderful goddess again. She blinked as she stared right down at him with confusion. The boy cracked a grin.

"This isn't a dream…is it, Suzu?"

"No…" shook the goddess's head.

"Then the real dream was what I saw before I woke up, right?"

"I…think so."

"…,…My head hurts, which is the real thing?"

"Um…I remember I fished you out of the ocean, took you to Obaba, wanted to get you food but I was attacked by a monster, and you saved me." She added the last word with a blissful smile.

"…,…,…Yeah, you're not a dream Suzu…" Igalis centered his head against his pillow with a long and deep sigh, "So that means I really did crash landed onto the ocean and was brought to…to…where am I again?"

"Airantou."

"Yeah, an uncharted island that survived the God's Fire Incident…Haaaa…"

"Ne," called Suzu, getting Igalis's attention, "What is a 'Colonel'?"

Igalis's expression went silent as he turned to stare up at the ceiling of an unfamiliar roof. Right, he reminded himself, Suzu took him to her house on the island for shelter. He felt grateful, but the question seemed to have suppressed the full-potency of his emotions.

"A Colonel…is a rank in the military force. Plus, he's my commanding officer…or you could say my boss."

"Can I ask…why do you hate him?"

"Let's just say he isn't the kind that people want to base their inspirations on…" Igalis grumbled at a thought and turned over to his side, facing away from Suzu, "He and some others would always pick on me. Call me an idiot when I mess up or return with an unsuccessful result of an assignment…which he always thinks it's an unsuccessful assignment no matter what others say." He then buried his chin under his covers, hiding a dark and solemn look, "Also…he got several of my comrades killed."

Suzu gasped. Subconsciously she touched her lips and shame swelled up within her, "Igarisu…I'm so sorry I asked…"

"It's fine," uttered Igalis, "I still have to face the fact sooner or later." He turned back to face the roof with blank eyes, "My comrades were the best Duraivyrs in their rank, all their missions a complete success. Unlike the others, they would never pick on me and would actually be my friends…The Colonel got them killed in a joint Strike-Force Operation against a RAGE Nest, in Old Albionai. That good-for-nothing didn't even know the first concept of strategy and tactics, and he sent them all into a suicide attack. Not many survived. True, it was painful to accept their death…it is just in their line of duty and I respected their sacrifice…"

His eyes narrowed, "but that Colonel crossed all my lines when he placed total blame on to them regarding about a failed part of the overall operation…making up lies to cover himself up…God, I hate him…" Igalis sighed, "Then either God was playing around with me or He honestly had no clue, that creep became my Colonel a few weeks after the incident…"

"I'm…so, so sorry, Igarisu…" The boy turned to face the goddess, Suzu, who had her head down in shame with a sad expression, "I…really didn't mean to bring up your painful memories…please forgive me."

Igalis blinked, "But…it's not your fault. Besides, you're not that good-for-nothing Colonel."

"But…" uttered the girl.

"Not to worry," Igalis warmly grinned at Suzu, "The only person I ever hate is just him. I really have no other spare rooms inside me to dislike others. And even if there was, there is no way I would give it to you, Suzu…"

The words brightened the girl with a beautiful smile, one that Igalis seemed to find himself liking it. He chuckled as he snuggled himself under his covers, "Well, at least I'm safe and sound."

Suddenly, Igalis felt something soft landed across his chest with a 'Pu'. He gazed down. It was a round ball with pig ears, a pigtail, tiny black dots for eyes, and a rather large pig nose. It had no legs, just a head/body. Now, it was staring straight into Igalis's eyes.

"Pu," it answered.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Igalis scrambled out of his bed – more like a spare futon that Suzu shared for him – and caused the piglet to flip back and onto its 'feet' again with curiosity. "WHAT IS THAT THI—" His hand went over the ledge of something and he turned to glimpse down. He was frozen halfway over a patio, or rather an elevated flooring of an old but sturdy Japanese house with a hay-covered roof. A sweat-drop appeared across his temple as he uttered, "Uh-oh…"

_**SMASH!**_

"Ah! Igarisu!" shrieked Suzu. She threw back her covers, revealing her long, slender, and bare legs as she went to the open front of her house.

"Pu?" The piglet followed the girl and together they peeked over the ledge.

"Are you…" Suzu trailed off. Igalis had half of his body still on the elevated flooring, his upper half collapse onto a pair of stone steps. He gripped the back of his head as he uttered in immense pain.

"Ow…" he wheezed. Soon, he came to his knees across the steps and levelled his height – somewhat – with Suzu's, "What is this thing?" The piglet hopped into Suzu's embrace and she held onto it with a dear smile.

"Oh, this is Tonkatsu. He's my pet and companion ever since I was a child."

"Is – ow…that so?"

"U'm," nodded Suzu, "He takes good care of me and I take good care of him! We're the best of friends!"

"…Hah…"

"Pu, pu." Tonkatsu hopped back down to the floor, landing across the wooden porch to stare up at Igalis. The boy lowered the height of his head, his chin almost touching that porch, as he stared right back. He grinned.

"Well then. Name's Igalis Raideno," he held out a hand, "Nice to meet'cha Tonka." Tonkatsu narrowed its eyes with a puff. It leapt forth like a bullet and kicked off of Igalis's forehead and back into Suzu's arms. "OW! HEY!"

"Pu-pu! Pu-pu-pu! Pu!" retorted the angered piglet.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Igarisu. Tonkatsu doesn't like it when people get his name wrong," nervously giggled Suzu.

"What? Didn't I say it right? It was Tonkasa, isn't it?"

"PU!"

_**BONK!**_

"OW!"

"Ah! Tonkatsu, stop hurting to Igarisu!"

[******]

"Great, now I have a headache," muttered Igalis, a hand clasped to his forehead.

"Sorry, Igarisu. I know Tonkatsu didn't mean it," answered Suzu, holding her grumbling pet in her arms.

"Pu!"

Igalis, Suzu, and Tonkatsu traveled together down a refreshing road full of trees and flowers. Along the way, Igalis failed to see the series of massive fruit that were still hanging across normal-sized trees. Anyone off the island would note that the fruit looked like they could snap of the branches themselves at any moment. Of course in terms to Suzu and the villagers, they were just as normal as anything else on the island.

The boy was once again clad in his silver and blue framed uniform, along with his fingerless gloves and belt. Though the items being held in his belt's storages were all dead and useless, he was used to carrying them around and could not bring himself in throwing them away. To his relief, the watch on his wrist was still alive and active, as well as his Duraivyr powers fully intact.

Suzu was dressed in her usual blue garments, white skirt, and thigh-long stockings. She was intrigued with Igalis and his appearance on the island. He was strange, she would give him that, but he was a heroic figure. Yesterday, he had fought off a strange demon she had never seen before and rescued her. She was grateful as she smiled at the thought. Despite his strange personality and characteristics, he was deep down a nice boy. A little out-of-this-island, but nonetheless a caring person.

The girl opened her mouth to speak to him, but stopped. He had disappeared. She stopped herself and looked around, "Igarisu?"

"Here…" Suzu turned to look behind her, finding Igalis to be a few paces back from where she had stopped, "What is this?"

"Eh?" The girl came to his side and examined what he was seeing. To her surprise, she saw that Igalis was staring at a tree. His eyes shone with silent interest as he eyed the sapling at every nook and cranny. "Anou…it's a tree. Why do you ask?"

Igalis reached out a hand, but stopped. He took of his glove and then placed his bare palm against the tree's soft bark. He closed his eyes, slowly took a deep breath, and fell silent. Suzu blinked in curiosity as Igalis never made a reaction. After a moment, he cracked a content grin and opened his eyes.

"It's beautiful…"

"Have you…never seen a tree before?"

"I have…but not a real one."

"Eh?"

Igalis peeled his hand off the wooden surface and slipped back on his fingerless glove, "Citadel-1 only has holograms of them in their park-zones and public zoos."

"Holo…grams?"

"Yeah."

Suzu tilted her head, "What's that?"

Igalis snapped out of his thoughts, realizing who he was talking to, "Ah, sorry. I forgot this island is entirely different from where I came from. Uh, how do I put it…It's kind of like a projection – no, no, that's not clear enough…The ones back on Citadel-1 are…you could say, fake."

"A fake tree?"

"Ah. It looks like the real tree, but really it isn't…" Igalis eyed the tree again, his eyes sparkling with an inner joy, "You couldn't even feel such soft skin if it was a hologram…"

"Skin?" blinked Suzu, "Don't you mean, bark?"

"…Right. The skin of a tree was called 'bark'…sorry Suzu."

"Mm-mmm, there's nothing to be sorry about."

The boy and girl exchanged smiles and soon broke out into laughter.

"So, where are we heading off to?"

"Anou…I guess we should stop by to see Obaba and find out what to do next, now that you would live on this island."

Suddenly, her sharp hearing picked up the sound of rustling – an unnatural one. She swooped down into a crouch, grasped for a small fallen apple and, "Who's there?" whipped it into the air. The single projectile pierced through the bush of a nearby try, tearing a rather large 'bite' off its branches. Instantly, a figure leapt out of the trees' cover and soared down from the sky.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! So, you've finally notice me!"

Suzu readied herself, as if prepared to face the monster she had dealt with yesterday. Igalis, on the other hand, squinted to stare up at the bright sky. The light revealed the floating figure to be a girl, possibly equal to or shorter than Suzu's height. She was thin, clad in some sort of uniform of a large white robe and long dark blue skirt. She had long and sleek black hair, tied in pigtails by a pair of blue triangular ribbons. She had an arrogant smirk on her face as she gracefully flipped and landed onto a stone pillar that stood nearby him and Suzu's position. The girl turned to face Suzu with a merciless gleam in her black eyes.

"We meet again, Suzu!" she cackled, with a light-croaky voice.

"Ayane!" called back Suzu.

"Ayane?" uttered Igalis.

"What do you want?" demanded the blue-clad girl.

"How mean, Suzu! I'm only here to meet with the newcomer of the island," replied the girl, Ayane. She then pointed her index finger at Igalis, "Hey, you!"

Igalis curiously pointed to himself as well, "Who, me?"

"Yes! You shouldn't be living with Suzu!" A mischievous glint crossed Ayane's eyes, "Her house is all mouldy and run-down and could be blown over by a single sneeze. There's full of rats, bugs, and spiders all over her places!" with a sleeved hand, she covered a wide grin on her face, "Plus, she's an extremely messy sleeper, an obnoxious snorer, and even wets—"

"AYANE!" shrieked Suzu, red all over, "Stop saying all those lies!"

"They're not lies!" retorted Ayane in a scream, "I live on this island with you since the time when we were born and I've been a victim of your sleepovers in the past!"

Suzu's face burned even more crimson.

"Actually…I think your wrong…"

Ayane and Suzu gagged and turned to Igalis, who had a casual smile.

"WHAT?" croaked the girl on the pillar.

"Suzu's place is actually very nice. I love it more than my old 4x4 square cell of a room. I haven't encountered any bugs or rats; even if I did, I'll help Suzu to keep her place tidy from them. She's done a lot for me, so I should do something for her. Furthermore, she sleeps like a peaceful and beautiful goddess, there's no way she's a messy…" Igalis trailed off, acknowledging his last sentence. He slowly turned to Suzu, who was stunned by his compliments. Ayane was just twice as shocked. "Did I say that you 'slept like a beautiful goddess' out loud?" Suzu nodded. Igalis paled a little and slapped a hand to his mouth.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU—" Ayane gagged, "DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE SLEPT WITH HER ALREADY?"

Igalis nervously answered, "Yeah and I'm grateful she had a spare…spare…Suzu, what was that thing you gave me last night."

"A futon."

"Yeah, a futon…That's a type of bed right?"

Suzu nodded again.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" hollered Ayane as she wildly hopping about on her plateau, "I CAN'T BELIEVE SUZU BESTED ME AGAIN! CURSE YOU AND YOUR WILES!"

"…Ah, Suzu, what is she talking about?"

Suzu sighed, "She's Ayane. She's been my rival ever since we were little. She would always challenge me everyday and just wouldn't stop. Winning her isn't a problem, but she's quite inconvenient whenever I'm not available all the time."

"DON'T REFER TO ME LIKE SOME ROCK IN YOUR SHOE!" screech Ayane, practically panting from all her screaming, "Suzu…that wretched girl always bested me in every competition and tournament! Every single year! What's worse…" The girl thrust her pointing finger at Suzu – more like below the point of her collar bone, "SHE EVEN HAS BIGGER—"

"AH!" Suzu coiled her arms around her chest, her cheeks flaring with embarrassment and frustration, "Ayane! I thought we wouldn't point that out every time we meet!"

"BUT IT'S JUST UNFAIR COMPARED TO MINE!"

Igalis looked Suzu to Ayane and then back again. The piglet Tonkatsu had hopped onto his right shoulder with a 'Pu' as Igalis turned to ask, "What do you think they're talking about, Tonkisa?"

"Puuuu…" groaned the piglet.

"I WON'T GIVE YOU ANOTHER CHANCE, AYANE!" cried Suzu. She crouched down, picked up a series of rock, and launched them in rapid succession at her target: Ayane.

"Whoa, she's even faster than a Citadel-1's turbolaser turrets!" jumped Igalis.

A glint flashed across Ayane's eyes as she smirked. Like the wind, she dodged side to side, up and down, to avoid every single rock that came at her.

"Hah! Such pathetic attacks won't touch me!"

Oblivious, Ayane failed to notice the missed rocks rebounding off a tree. Just as the front barrage ended and she remained triumphantly surviving, a hail of rocks struck every spot and corner of her back. "GAH!" The force of the rocky-rain shoved her forward, causing her to trip across an uprooted stone. With an 'ack', she fell off the high plateau and had her face buried deep into the ground, while her body balanced crookedly into the air. Suzu stood back up, a look of content on her face, and brushed the dust from her palms.

"Let's go, Igarisu!" she said with a blissful smile.

Igalis followed her footsteps while casually asking, "You sure she's fine like that?"

"Mm-hmm, Ayane has been through worse herself…especially when it comes to her older sister."

"Eeh…Ayane has an older sister? Ha-ha, wonder how she's like compared to Ayane?"

As the two waltzed right past the upside-down human totem pole, Ayane's body twitched away. She flipped about, to lie across her stomach, and exposed her dirt-covered head with a pop. A twisted smile of vengeance ripped across her sooty face as she rummaged her hand into her garment. She pulled out a rather long bamboo shoot, with an empty and smoothed out core, as well as a small cone-shaped dart. The girl whispered a dark giggle.

"Ku-ku-ku…Now, I'll finish you, Suzu," she slapped the dart into her bamboo pipe and clamped her lips to it: a deadly blow-dart. Her lips still locked, she uttered, "Once – and – for all!"

Above her across a branch was a rather round animal with a squirrel teeth, ears, and bushy tail. It rapidly gnawed on the stem of a giant acorn, chirping excitedly for lunch. The acorn then came off with a snap and fell down.

Ayane took in a puff of air and aimed her blow-dart at the top tip of Suzu's spinal cord and neck. She smirked. The acorn –comically – crushed her skull in and her eyes threatened to pop out of her sockets. With a suppressed shriek, she blasted off the dart…and it hit is mark. Not entirely though.

"Eh?" Igalis pinched the dart out of his neck and examined with it curiosity, "What's this?"

"Ah! It's an anaesthetic dart!" gasped Suzu.

"Anaesthetic? Oh, you mean like the type of drugs that could knock out an elephant out cold in less than a second…as well as making your body really, really numb?"

"U'm," Suzu nodded, "Are you…alright?"

Igalis blinked, "Perfectly—" before he collapsed into a heap.

"AH! IGARISU!" Suzu fell to her knees, desperately shaking a sleeping Igalis awake, "Ne-ne! Wake up, Igarisu!"

Failing to notice a light rustle within a nearby bush, Suzu missed the rise of a dark figure. It sported a pair of red eyes and a frightening smile stretched.

"Hu-hu-hu-hu…Shoukan…"

Large, but small, baby bats popped out of the air from puffs of smoke and they were instantly all over Suzu in a flash.

"AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! S-STOP IT! TH-THAT TICKLES! HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!" screeched the girl.

Honest enough, Suzu was writhing in hysteria across the ground as the bats squeaked and rubbed all over her body. They instantly disappeared into puffs of smoke and shredded white paper as they were taken out by a series of dart-shots. Suzu sat up, brushing the papers off her clothing and patting it out of her hair.

"What was that?" She then noticed the shredded papers and picked a piece up. The girl instantly recognized a small fragment of ancient writing of an incantation: summoning powers, or shoukanjutsu. "This is…"

"No doubt about it!" Suzu turned to Ayane, gasping. Her rival had a rather large bump glowing across her head, a trickle of blood rolling down her face. Hanging in her hand by her side was her blow-dart she had used to vanquish the bats. "Oneesama got us had!"

"Eh? Machi-nee?" wondered Suzu.

"See for yourself!" pointed Ayane. Suzu turned, to where Igalis was, and gasped again. He was not there anymore. Only Tonkatsu was left, but was gift-wrapped in paper seals with an uncomfortable 'Pu'.

"Tonkatsu! Where's Igarisu?" Suzu asked.

"Pu…Pu-pu…" answered Tonkatsu with a sorry expression, "Puuuu…"

"Geez, that no good…Oneesama must have snagged that boy while we were distracted. I just wonder why did she went off with him for…" Ayane suddenly inhaled a large vent of air and held it with a squeaky voice, "Don't tell me…that she is going to be the one to claim him? GAH! ONEESAMA, YOU WITCH!"

Before Ayane knew it, she was blown aside into a thorn bush as a blue gale – with a pink ball desperately hanging onto its shoulders – knocked her off her feet and dashed into the distnace.

"PU! PU!"

"IGARISU!"

[******]

"…,…,…,…,…Ow." Igarisu felt strength returning throughout his body as the cold numbness faded out of his system. He weakly slapped a hand to his head, feeling a throbbing headache surging into his mind. "What…in God's name was that dart again? A 'whopper head-ache'-nesthetic?" he dropped his hand, and nestled his head against a soft red pillow he was lying across. A gentle hand touched his forehead, a soothing sensation washing over Igalis' stinging body. "Ah…thanks a lot…"

Igalis's eyes opened to first stare up into the sky. He glimpsed about, finding himself to be on a soft shore with the ocean waves rolling close-by to where he was. His head was indeed placed across a red pillow…but it was not exactly _a_ pillow. Slowly, he looked up higher.

He locked eyes with another pair, upside-down, that belonged to another girl with long black hair, a gentile expression, and a pair of somewhat familiar black eyes. A pair of tied strands hung over her small shoulders, wrapped in white bandages of some sort, and had her bangs curled out like black wings across her fore-head. The end of her hair was also bound in manacle of white bandages. Her eyes were soft and looked like she could fall asleep at any moment. She was clad in something similar to Ayane's clothing, only her skirt and several straps of her white garment were red. The boy blinked, failing to notice that his head was lying across her folded lap.

"Hi…" she whispered in a soft voice, almost like that of an angel to the boy's ears.

"Uh…hello…You would be…"

"Watakushi wa Machi," she closed her eyes and did a light bow, "Douzo yoroshiku, onegaishimasu."  
_[My name is _Machi_…I am a little inexperience so please humble me in your presence and guide me along the right path _(overwhelmingly polite)_]_

Igalis blinked again, "A-ah…Nice to meet you too…"

"Your name?"

"Igalis."

"Are you the newcomer, Igarisu-sama?"

"Eh…you could say that…Again with the Iga_risu_, huh? Oh well…AH!" Igalis sprang sitting up and quickly gazed about, "Suzu! Where is she?"

"She is fine," whispered Machi. With a sleeved hand, she hid an innocent-_like_ sinister smile with a maliciously _gentle_ gaze.

"Are you sure? That girl, Ayane, was giving her trouble before she shot me with a dart…Say, do I know you from somewhere?" Igalis took a better look at Machi's _calm_ behaviour, while she was still knelt across the sand with her large-sleeved hands resting across her lap.

"My little sister is Ayane," she answered, "Please excuse her brutish actions."

"Oh, so that's why you look so familiar," Igalis smiled, "You're quite pretty."

Machi felt stunned for a second, honestly said. She then struggled a, "A-arigatou…" as her cheeks tinged pink a little.

"By the way. Where's Suzu? We were supposed to head off to Obaba's place but Ayane got in the way…I think…"

Machi did not reply this time, only hiding her gaze under her hair. Igalis looked about before he decided to go off by himself.

"Thanks for the help. I'll be heading off now."

"Hu-hu-hu…do you think I would let you run away like that?"

"Eh?" Igalis came to a stop, unfazed by the frightening tone in Machi's voice. The girl in white and red gracefully came to her feet and turned to face the boy. She raised her head a little, revealing a shadow hiding the left half of her face and a red glint in her shaded right eye. Though Igalis have faced ferocious RAGEs before, Machi's expression sent a shiver down his spine. "M…Machi?"

"Now…I will make you my groom, Igarisu-sama…" she smirked.

"…What do you mean, 'groom'?"

"CHOUTTO MATTA!"  
_[HOLD IT!]_

Machi and Igalis snapped out of the tension and turned to the incoming voice. Gracefully diving from the air was Suzu, who landed in front of Igalis from a skilful somersault. Tonkatsu – no longer gift-wrapped – too landed next to her and hopped on the spot with a series of 'Pu's. She stood back up to her full height and outstretched her arms to shield the boy with herself.

"Leave Igalis alone, Machi-nee. He just came to Airantou last night and needs time to adjust to everything here. You shouldn't give him any more trouble than he's already facing!"

"Ah, Suzu. Nice to see you again," smiled Igalis.

Suzu turned with a smile, "U'm" before returning her protective expression back to Machi, "What do you plan on doing with him?"

"Hu-hu-hu-hu…to make him my groom, of course…"

"ONEESAMA!"

The two girls and boy turned again, eyeing a haggard figure leaning on a thin stick that was coming towards them on the beach. It was Ayane, bruised, cut, and even bleeding more than before. She had a crossed look as she glared daggers with sharp teeth at her older sister.

"You're too wicked, Oneesama! Trying to snatch the newcomer away like that!"

"Hu-hu-hu-hu…I've done nothing wrong. I've only brought, Igarisu-sama to the beach after you knocked him out."

"AH! YOU WERE THERE WHEN IT HAPPENED?" roared Ayane, "That's does it, Oneesama, now it's your turn to face the punishment of – GRAH!" The girl grasped her heart with a sharp intake of air. Her eyes widened, practically popping out even, as she writhed in pain beyond comprehension. She collapsed to her knees, panting like an exhausted dog, before she gagged at another sting to her heart.

Held in Machi's hand was a unique voodoo doll made out of straws, a rather long nail stuck through its heart. What was so unique about such doll was the fact that its hairstyle resembled Ayane's. Machi withdrew the nail and stabbed again, earning a shriek for mercy.

"What was that about punishment, Ayane?" she whispered with smiling malice.

"No-Nothing, nothing – GEH! – Oneesa – KOH! – ma…" gagged Ayane in wilting agony.

A sweat-drop fell across Suzu's head as she nervously giggled. Igalis was wide eyed.

"Whoa-ho. That's looks so sweet!" Igalis then went up to Machi, surprising her as she raised her attention to meet his eyes, "May I try."

The girl was silent, only blankly staring at Igalis for a full minute. After she stabbed the doll one last time – ignoring Ayane's screech – she graciously passed it and the nail to the intrigued boy. "Douzo…" she added with a grin.  
_[Go ahead / please, help yourself]_

Igalis held the doll and nail in each hand and paused, "Uh…how does this work?"

Suzu nervously scratched the side of her head, "Anou…Igarisu. I don't think that's such a good idea."

"It's quite simple, Igarisu-sama," spoke Machi with a soft tone, "you stab it with the nail."

"NO! DON'T—"

"Got it!"

"—DO IT – ICK! EEK! AH! GREH! BUEH!"

Ayane leapt all over the place like a panicking fish out of water. Igalis was chuckling like a young child as he 'played' with the voodoo doll and relentlessly stabbed it – completely oblivious of how it actually worked.

"This is quite fun! I think there's more to it than stabbing this thing, but it beats paperwork back on Citadel-1 anytime!"

Machi blushed as she hid her cheeks under her small hands, "I'm glad Igarisu-sama is enjoying himself." Suzu and Tonkatsu double sweat-dropped with more nervous giggles as they did not dare to glance at Ayane.

"I – TOH! – ga – ECK! – ri – KU! – su – BLEH! – sama! – KEH! – Ya…yamete, kudasai. I can't – GAH!"  
_[…Please, stop it…]_

"Ah, by the way, Machi," said Igalis, while he continued playing, "What do you meant by making me your groom?"

"Hm?" perked Machi's head, "Igarisu-sama does not know?"

To Ayane's relief, Igalis paused and perked his attention from the doll, "Know what?"

Machi kindly took the voodoo doll out of his hands, stuffed the nail deep into its heart, – with a rather loud death-like gasp echoing about that made Suzu blanch – tossed it over her shoulder, and said…

"You are the only male here."

Igalis was silent for a full ten second, before he blinked, leaned his head closer, and responded with, "Haaaaaaaaa?"

"Machi-nee's right, Igarisu," said Suzu, approaching the two with a faint expression, "There is no other male villager than yourself on Airantou."

"Eh? Then…where'd they all go?"

"It seems that I should be the one to explain the rest…"

Igalis, Machi, and Suzu all turned to the threshold of the nearby forest and of the beach, spotting the appearance of an old lady – who was quite short, remarked Igalis.

"Obaba!" called Suzu.

"Obaba…" whispered Machi with a bow.

"Oh it's you, madam. Void Class, De-Evolution, Igalis Raideno reporting in," answered Igalis with a respectful salute.

Obaba chuckled, "At ease, young soldier. Like I said, I'm simply the old granny of the village. Just call me Obaba…"

"Yes madam," Igalis smiled as he dropped the salute.

The old lady cleared his throat as she passed by a rather limp and stark-white Ayane as he body twitched across the sands. Obaba did not need any explanation for that, as she knew this scenario quite well.

"As Suzu and Machi may have told you, it is true that you are the only man on the island of Airantou."

"Then…what happened to the other men? Did they all die in battle, or were they accidentally pulled into the God's Fire Incident…Could it possibly be the RAGE on the island?"

"RAGE?" raised Obaba's eyes.

"_Reactive Amalgamate-Genus Entity_, remember?" reminded Igalis. Suzu came closer to her side and nodded. Obaba did not answer at first.

"Right…" she cleared her throat and closed her eyes for focus, "First, I will explain about the being of the island…Many years ago, when Japan opened her doors to explore the outer world, we, of the village, were sent throughout Europe to learn of their current technologies and studies…But like you, Igarisu, the ship we travelled on was struck by a raging storm and shipwrecked us onto this very island. We were stranded here, but fortunately we weren't entirely marooned. The island's habitat proved to be suitable for a healthy living, so we learned to cope with what we had at hand and made the most of it. Since then, we've been living here and eventually named it after our downed ship Airantou. Originally, both men and women co-existed on this…"

Obaba opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. Igalis, Suzu, and Machi were all knelt across comfy cushions across the sand – all prepared by the young miko Machi. In each of their hands they held onto a steamy cup of green tea, while Machi poured more for Igalis.

"How is the tea, Igarisu-sama?"

"I love it! It tastes so good!"

"Ah-ha-ha. Drinking tea while listening Obaba re-tell this story is always so refreshing."

Ayane weakly crawled towards them, looking like a shipwrecked sailor who never had a decent meal for years, "I…want some tea too – GOH!" Machi was fortunate to find her doll lying about nearby. So, she impaled the tiny object's heart with the nail and into the ground. In seconds Ayane keeled over, a smoky spirit of herself rising out of her cold lips.

"Were you even listening?" wondered Obaba, coolly. The three good boy and girls nodded with an innocent smile. The old lady sighed, "As I was saying…There once were men that thrived on the island as well as women. Every year, all the men on the island would head out to sea for a grand fishing competition called the 'Men's Large Ship Fish Catching Tournament'. It just so happened that 12 years ago, on that year's very event, a storm that passes by Airantou every 100 year appeared. With its power, it swept them away and further out in the midst of sea…never to be seen again."

Igaris softly gasped. The island…lost its men in the storm? All of them? Come to think of it, he thought, he had not seen a single man about. Though his actual time on Airantou was short and was limited in how much of the island he had explored, he never even bump into a guy by chance. Could this be possible?

"Now," said Obaba, "do you understand, Igarisu? Why Machi wanted you as a groom?" Machi turned to Igalis, who was in deep thought.

"A…bit…"

"Since the time the men disappeared, all the women on the island had fallen into a pit of despair. The only reason we could stay strong is to not dwell on such sad memories. Still, there are those were dreamed of being a humble wife of the man they loved…" Obaba sighed, "It must be God's fate…"

Igaris drank the rest of his tea before balancing it into the sands. Surprising everyone, including an awakening Ayane, he rose to his feet. Obaba, Machi, and Suzu followed, tracing after his footsteps as he turned to look about. His eyes brightened on a nearby rowboat, with a pair of oars.

"Aha!" He then sprinted over to it and started to drag it into the water.

"I-Igarisu?" blinked Suzu.

"What is he doing?" wondered Machi.

"You're question is as good as mine," answered Obaba.

Ayane regained her strength as she stood back up to her feet and brushed the sand out of her miko robes, "Wonder what does he plan on doing with…EH? Don't tell me he's…" Suzu, Machi, and Obaba turned a pale Ayane.

"What?" tilted Suzu's head.

"Is he trying to leave Airantou?"

Everyone gasped, all but Obaba, and they spun about. Just as they lay eyes on Igalis, he was already waist deep in water with the boat floating next to him. With a grin, he flipped out of the water and crouched into the boat, grasping for the oars.

"Igarisu!" cried Suzu.

"Igarisu-sama?" called after Machi. The two girls broke forward into a speedy dash, until they reached the threshold between the shore and ocean. They watched in stunned silence as Igalis ventured further away from the island. Obaba casually sauntered up to their sides as they attempted to call the boy back.

"Ho~h…trying to escape our grasp, eh?"

"Igarisu! What are you doing! Please come back!"

"It's dangerous out there! Please return to us, Igarisu-sama!"

As if not being able to hear the two girls' pleas, Igalis kept going forward. Suzu spun on Obaba and gripped the sleeves of her kimono, "Obaba! We have to stop him or else—"

"Not to worry," grinned the old lady, "He'll return whether he likes it or not…" She then uttered a dark chuckle.

Igalis, facing the bow of the boat, rowed forward with all his might. He muttered words to himself as he glanced at several directions before him at the sea. A grin etched across his lips.

"Alright, I've got it all worked out!" That was until he felt the boat…shifting to the right, "Eh?" He paused his rowing for a second, witnessing that his boat was indeed starting to curve into a strange circle. No sooner had he noticed, the boat was already aiming back towards Airantou. "What's this…Huh?" Igalis had the urge to look over the left side of his side, and he listened. Now, his face was as white as Suzu's spare futon and was gagged speechless.

He was staring into the spiralling core of a deadly whirlpool.

"Oh…" groaned Igalis, "this is ba—" Soon, the sound of twisting wood, roaring plunges, and relentless screaming blared into the sky. "UWAH-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~HAAAAAAAA~!"

"IGARISU!" shrieked Suzu. Machi was the type who loved tortures and sadistic activities, especially the ones involving the torment of her little sister…but what she was witnessing was absolutely unbearable as she looked away. Ayane slapped her eyes shut with a grimace. Obaba casually chuckled. Eventually, Suzu started to tear up and slapped her eyes shut.

The chorus of destruction and pain trailed off. It was soon followed by the rolling of waves and a weak groaning. Suzu opened her eyes along with Ayane, Machi turned back, and Obaba simply gazed down at her feet.

Lo and behold was Igalis, sprawled on his back across the shores. His body was rigid, his right hand clutching the top of a broken oar, and his eyes were swirling.

"Igarisu!"

"Igarisu-sama!"

Suzu and Machi came down to his sides, holding him steady in their arms and lap.

"Ne-ne, are you okay?" asked Suzu. The boy stirred awake and quickly shook the dizziness from his head – as well as plucking a pink star-fish from left cheek.

"The whirlpool felt like something I skipped in my training examinations, but other than that: perfectly fine." Igalis then sneezed.

"Why did you try to leave, Igarisu?"

The boy stopped and blinked, "Huh? Leave?"

Machi solemnly turned her gaze away, her eyes on the verge of tears, "Am I…not good for you as a bride…Igarisu-sama?"

"What? No, that's not the problem! Why would I want to leave you two…" He then perked his head up, "Oh…I get it. Ah-ha…sorry, my bad."

"Eh?" asked Machi and Suzu together. Even Obaba, with Ayane now by her side, raised an eyebrow.

"You see, I have a tendency to act on a really good idea before I forget it…and I sort of get caught up in it, soon forgetting everything else…I must have missed your calls…Sorry."

"Mm-mmm," shook Suzu's head, "There's nothing to be sorry about, Igarisu, but what were you doing?" Machi nodded in agreement.

"I want to go and look for the men of Airantou."

Surprised gasps echoed in unison, all eyes on a smiling Igalis.

"Wh-what?" asked Machi.

"For girls like you two to live without guys would be quite difficult, that I truly understand. Men were meant to protect women and their children as well as strive to raise the family. As well…" Igalis sat up, shaking the salt from his drenched dark-ocean-blue hair, "Suzu saved me when I drifted to here and gave me shelter. Machi rescued me from Ayane and gave me lovely tea. Obaba helped and allowed me to get a better understanding of the island. And Ayane…" The boy chuckled, "Well, I don't know what to say about Ayane, but I know she has her perks."

"HEY!"

The boy then turned to Suzu, Machi, Obaba, and Ayane with a wide smile. "That is why I want to help everyone bring back all the men that were lost. Though I don't look like it, I have keen sense of direction – providing I need the use of a map – and I can estimate where the men might have disappeared to during the storm. It's a long-shot, yes, but if the men were still alive, they're bound to be searching for their home again. If I set out and find them, I can help to retrace my steps and return them all to be together with everyone." Igalis chuckled, "It's the least I could do for all of your kindness."

Suzu and Machi were on the brink of tears as they stared at the strange boy. Ayane looked away with a grimace, suppressing her urge to cry. Releasing all sense of restrictions, Obaba threw herself onto the boy with a floodgate of tears.

"IGARISU! NEVER HAVE I SEEN A MAN WITH SO MUCH HONOR, VALOR, AND CONSIDERATION IN ALL OF MY LIFE! YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY THE MOST AMAZING BOY I'VE EVER MET!"

Igalis blinked at the sudden action, but genuinely smiled and hugged Obaba back with a chuckle, "Why, thank you Obaba."

"Igarisu-sama!"

"Igarisu!"

The next thing the boy knew, both Suzu and Machi hugged him and Obaba at the same time. Their arms softly enveloped the boy in an embrace as his cheeks burned a tad bit pink.

"Suzu…Machi…" The two girls slowly let their tears out from the corner of their eyes as they held him close with smiles. Tonkatsu had a happy look on it as hopped with joyful 'Pu's.

They felt warm, all of them, thought Igalis. Never…had he felt such warmth since he joined the military-force. It was overwhelmingly sweet and he wished he could keep this ecstatic feeling forever. He hugged his left hand across Machi's back, rubbed his chin across Obaba's shoulder, and pressed his forehead against Suzu's.

Ayane shuffled uncomfortably at the sight before she forcefully cleared her throat, "I hate to burst your bubble, Igalis, but there's no way you can leave the island."

"Eh?" blinked the boy, "Why's that?"

The two girls and elderly lady broke away from their hugs, wiping the tears with their hands and sleeves of their kimonos.

"She is right," said Obaba, her voice once again steady, "The island is surrounded by whirlpools and even more beyond the first line. There is no way anyone could get past them and let alone survive."

"Unless you got a _Graiphon_ handy…" pointed out the boy. Everyone shook their heads and Igalis sighed in defeat, "Got it…Mine would be buried deep under the water by now…And even if I was able to get it out, it would be pretty much be a pile of scrap."

Obaba nodded as she strongly added, "To leave the island is **zettai muri**."  
_[…absolutely impossible]_

Suzu had an inkling feeling at those words and she turned to Igalis. He was silent for a good ten seconds, his expression never changing. Finally, he sighed again.

"Impossible, huh?" he then shrugged with a carefree air, "well, one way or another, at least I tried."

"U'm," nodded Suzu, just as happy, "Thank you for trying, Igarisu."

Machi hid her shy smile with her sleeved hand, "Igarisu-sama is absolutely amazing." The boy sheepishly chuckled at the compliment.

"Besides," muttered Ayane, "Anyone who even thinks about trying it again would be a _zettai baka_!"  
_[…absolute idiot.]_

Igalis froze.

Without warning, the entire atmosphere went cold – really cold. Any colder and it could have formed frost all over a shivering Tonkatsu. They all traced the source of the cold, eyes wide on Igalis. He was hunched over as he was sitting like a lifeless doll. His dark-blue hair was instantly frozen dry and practically stood up on its curled ends, like hackles.

"Who…are…you…calling…_baka_…" Slowly he raised his head up – a patch of hair shielding his right eye, his entire face covered in frightening shadows, and his left eye glowing neon red with absolute hatred, "Colonel…"

"Co…Colonel?" breathed Ayane.

"Iga…risu?" uttered Suzu.

The boy bolted to his feet, ready for a fight as he bared furious teeth, "I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S THE REAL _BAKA_ HERE!" Without another word, Igalis whirled about and leapt up high over the ocean. To everyone's amazement, he was literally soaring over a mile and a half across the across the ocean before he dove deep down.

"What is he doing?" wondered Machi.

Igalis resurface and swam like a hectic swimmer. His eyes burned with determination as he swam far into ocean. Soon, whirlpools appear to block him off. "EVEN IF I AM DIFFERENT FROM EVERYONE ELSE, I'LL SHOW YOU MY TRUE STRENGTH; COLONEL! RAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Is he…" breathed Ayane.

"He is," raised Obaba's eyebrows.

Suzu shrieked, "NO, IGARISU!"

"ERAAAAAAAAA~AAAAAAAAAH – UWAH-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~HAAAA~!"

Everyone shielded their eyes as they heard the familiar chorus of agony. It trailed off and soon Igalis was washed back up to shore. Before anyone could help him up, the boy sprang to his feet and dove in again.

"I'M NOT DONE YET!" With that he charged into the raging whirlpools again.

"What is he trying to prove?" blinked Ayane in horror, "And who's he talking about?"

"His Colonel," answered Suzu, "he mentioned that he caused his comrades to die and would always look down on him."

Machi cupped her hands to her burning cheeks with a dreamy air, "Igarisu-sama…is truly an amazing groom…"

"UWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA~! AGAIN! ERYAAAAAA~AAAAAAAH – WHOA~OAOAOAOAOA-OAOAOAOOO~! ONCE MORE! HEEEEEEE~EEEEEEH – EYAH~AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA~!"

Machi turned about and strode off into the nearby woods. Ayane noticed this, causing the others to turn after her.

"Oneesama, where are you going?"

"I want to help Igarisu-sama…I'm heading off to Rin's place. Please take good care of him." With that, she ventured off down a trail.

"W-wait for me, Oneesama!" called after Ayane. Then she too left the beach in chasing after her sister.

Obaba and Suzu turned back to the clash of two particular titans: the forces of nature and the undying perseverance of a single boy.

"He's proven to be quite something for him to survive multiple thrashings like that…" grinned Obaba, "A perfect grand-son-in-law indeed."

Suzu could not help but look on with fear while linking her hands together for a prayer of safety, "Igarisu…"

"DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE – YEOW~OWOWOWOWOW-OWOWOWOWOOO~!"

[******]

"Oneesama! *pant-pant* wait for me!"

"You're too slow, Ayane."

Down the trail from the beach, Ayane ran up to Machi's side. Out of breath, she fanned herself with a sleeve as she continued to follow Machi's pace.

"What do you plan on doing, Oneesama?"

"I'll ask Rin and her family if they could build a boat strong enough for Igalis to leave…"

"Oh that sounds like a good…EEH?" Ayane almost stumbled over her own wooden-sandal clad feet and stared at a calm Machi with wide-eyed horror, "WHAT FOR?"

"I want to help Igarisu-sama…" The younger sister fell silent, noticing a faint smile and a dreamy glint in her older sister's eyes. She had never seen anything like it. "Igarisu-sama…is a wonderful person. I want to do everything I can to assist him in whatever he does…Furthermore…"

Machi grinned, not the malicious one that Ayane always seen, but one that radiated soft warmth. She reminisced in her memories, to the part when she and Igalis first met. She recalled his smile as he said…

'_You're quite pretty…'_

"I…" whispered Machi, more to herself than anyone else, "think I've really fallen for him…"

Suddenly a loud crashing noise erupted behind the two mikos. Ayane shrieked as she leapt around to hide behind her sister's back, who was now turned about. Clouds of dust fumed from the crater as Ayane shivered with dreaded fear.

"Wh-what was that?" she screeched.

Machi narrowed her eyes, surveying the damages, "A…comet?"

Worse. It soon revealed itself as the clouds were ripped apart by a long and lashing jaw. Ayana blanched and lost control of her scream.

"IIIIIIIIIIII~YYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!"

[******]

Igalis collapsed in an exhausted heap as he crawled back to the shore, for the 53rd time. His eyes were swirling with winged halos flying around his head. He…had enough.

"Igarisu!" Suzu swooped down to his side and scooped his limp body in her arms. She help to pry off seahorses, seaweed, starfishes, and a crab that pinched his silver jacket from Igalis as she caressed his cold and pale cheeks, "Are you hurt? Speak to me!"

Breathless in the goddess's arms, he weakly nodded.

"My, my, my, Igarisu," spoke Obaba, walking towards them, "You've certainly surpassed the average limitation of endurance, but never had I expected you to be still alive after all that."

"Heh-heh-heh, well after all – Achoo…*Sniff* I _am_ a Duraivyr…" smiled the boy.

"A Duraivyr?"

Igalis opened his mouth…

_Ping…ping…ping…ping…_

But his eyes widened. He sprang sitting up from Suzu's hold with shocking recovery as he held up his flashing watch. The 'pinging's were getting faster and heavier, as words flashed across the watch's screen.

**{NU BLOOD – DETECTED}**

[******]

"WAAAAAAAAAH!" Ayane dove aside, in time to avoid a large and thick whip-like shade smashing open the ground behind her.

"Shoukan!" Machi muttered a series of incantations, summoning all her spirits at once. A white rex-like ghost charged and bit down on the attacking figure; a tanned and muscular spirit, with heavy fists and a candy-wrapper head with white eyes, struck out and pummelled blow after blow into the figure's legs; and her baby-bats fluttered about to disorientate her attacker.

It proved to be useless. The figure peeled out of the biting rex-ghost's way, crushing it under its own massive jaws; the tanned muscle-ghost was instantly batted away by a heavy strike of the figure's leg; and the bats exploded into torn seal-paper and smoke by a single swipe of a long tail. Machi grimaced as she got a clear look at the mysterious attacking creature.

To her surprise, it was some sort of massive and blazing crimson entity in the form of a demonic crocodile. Its long jaws threatened to crush anything it bites into dust, tail flailing about like a deadly mace, and its pure yellow eyes burned with raging malice.

"What…is this…" uttered Machi.

"DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT IT IS! RUN AWAY!" screeched Ayane.

The demon crocodile lunged, its jaws wide open to swallow Machi and her sister whole. As Ayane screamed, Machi whipped out several strips of her priestess seals from her sleeve. She tossed them forward, uttering an incantation along the way. The seals straightened at her command, zipping forward until they stuck themselves onto the demon.

Machi rapidly versed her incantation, forming a series of powerful hand-signs. The demon crocodile stopped in its attack when it noticed the plastered seal starting to glow and a large bright magical circle appeared underneath it.

"I won't let you escape, demon…" muttered Machi, "FUIN!"  
_[Seal!]_

The circle flashed a powerful light and started to shrink in size to encase the demon within its barrier-walls. Machi grinned, but it melted when the crocodile was actually croaking in laughter. The demon gave off a deafening roar that shook the earth, forcing Ayane and Machi to clasp their eyes shut in pain. To Machi's shock, the sealing circle's barrier-walls cracked and webbed all over. Soon, it shattered into hundreds of dissolving pieces and the seals across its body were burnt up by its blazing crimson fur.

The two sisters shivered in dreaded fear as the crocodile dug in its feet into the dirt, ready for a charge. Unable to bear it any longer, Ayane ran screaming forward.

"Ayane!" cried Machi.

"Run away, Oneesama!" The white and blue miko blindly rushed forward with a shriek of her own. In her charge, she whipped out a stick with a pair of streams of square-pieces, linked to each other by their corners, and frantically waved them in front of her. "Demon spirit begone! Demon spirit begone! Demon spir—"

A meaty and burning tail struck Ayane dead into her gut, doubling her forward. From the force, she was sent sailing straight into Machi and they both flew into the base of a tree. Leaves and ripe fruits were shaken off from their branches and fell into a scatter around the two girls. Machi stirred awake, finding Ayane lying face-up and unconscious across her lap with a gaping mouth and swirling eyes. The white and red girl turned, staring at the demon crocodile as it gave a huff of pleasure. It grinned as it started to stalk them, a malice far greater than anyone's imagination glinting in its yellow eyes.

For once in her entire life, Machi found herself to be terribly cold.

"OI!"

The crocodile and Machi perked up their attentions and turned to the voice. The demon growled and the girl began to brightened with hope.

"I…Igarisu-sama…"

Igalis came bursting through a cloud of bushes, Suzu following on his heels as she leapt over the bushes herself. The boy eyed the demon crocodile with spite as he flew his left hand to his left wrist.

"_Motorgrad_!" Igalis swiftly twisted the tear-shaped watch for the tip to point forward and it rapidly flashed with light.

**[\ ****DURAIVYR CODE ACTIVE**** /]  
{^ START UP ^}**

"_ANKAA MOUDO!_" Before the crocodile knew it, a flying golden anchor on a long chain smashed in its face and sent it reeling into the air. The anchor recoiled and gracefully arced back to its owner's hand, as Igalis spun it about for another go. The boy skidded to a halt in front of Machi and the sleeping Ayane, chain-mace ready to brawl. Suzu landed by his side and drew out her kunais into her hands. The crocodile RAGE rolled back to its feet, eyeing the Duraivyr with ferocity.

"Machi-nee, are you okay" asked Suzu.

"E-ee."  
_[Y-yes]_

"I hope that this RAGE didn't hurt you much, did it?" grimaced Igalis.

"Not really…but I can't say the same for Ayane."

"Heh-heh, no problem then," chuckled the Duraivyr. He then called out to the crocodile, "Hey, RAGE! You mess with either Suzu or Machi and you'll be in a heck of a lot of trouble in dealing with me!" The RAGE snarled and snapped its long jaw. "Alright then…Let's get this over with! Suzu, go!"

"U'm, Igarisu!"

In a flash, the two leapt into action. High in the air, Suzu shot forth her kunais and they struck across the crocodile's jagged spine, causing it to sting it with annoyance. Igalis dove down and rocketed his anchor forward to let it smash across the demon's neck. The force driven its face into the dirt as the attackers landed before it. Without getting its head out, the demon flailed his tail about at the boy and girl.

"Igarisu-sama!" cried Machi.

"_BURONZU MOUDO!_" Igalis's anchor transformed, retracting in the long iron chain into itself, like a measuring tape, until his medallion with a star connected with the bottom base. His weapon then altered form, recombining to become his shield-like knuckle-duster. It automatically attached to his right fore-arm, in time for him to block the RAGE's striking tail in a split second. He shoved the attack away and kicked it off away from him and Suzu.

Together, the Duraivyr and fighting girl dove forward. Suzu slashed forth more kunais that impaled themselves in a line across the RAGE's snout, followed up by a devastating punch of a knuckle-duster directly between its eyes. The demon was sent flipping through the air, knocking over a pair of trees, before crashing back into the ground with a loud roar.

"Time to end it all! _Motorgrad_!" cried Igalis, "_SUPPATEN MOUDO!_"

Automatically, the knuckle-duster broke apart and transformed itself into a long sword with a hallow core and a short dangling chain with the medallion on its end. After the final configurations were complete, Igalis swiped it out of the air, holding it in reverse, and charged off by himself after the RAGE. Suzu ran after him as Machi struggled to do the same, carrying a dead-weight of a sister across her back.

Igalis landed in a freshly made clearing and brought up his reverse-held sword up in time to block a retaliating tail. The blow sent him skidding back, but still standing, and the RAGE lunged forth like a lion. The Duraivyr ducked, angling his blade for its stabbing point to cut across the RAGE's belly in its flight. The demon collapsed in a roll with a deafening shriek. Suzu and Machi, carrying Ayane, came to the edge of the clearing.

"Go for it, Igarisu!" cheered Suzu.

The Duraivyr whipped around, his left hand already clenching the dangling iron chain of his sword, and yanked it three times for the sword's inner engines to roar with power.

**{(/) BURNING DECADE (\)}**

The blade's edge sparked to life as it ignited its sparkling red laser chain-saw, increasing the sword's power by ten-folds. Igalis flipped his sword right side up, held it in both hands, and rushed forward in a mighty leap.

"HEADS UP!" Just as the crocodile rose to its feet, Igalis was right on top of it in the air. The RAGE screeched and opened its jaws to devour the Duraivyr in a last ditch attack. "HAH!"

The burning red and laser-ignited blade seared right through the RAGE's jaw, slicing a sparkling red slash horizontally through its body. Splitting the entire crocodile RAGE in half, Igalis slashed his blade out and caused the demon to erupt into black flames. A puff of smoke rose into the air, forming a pair of crossed scythed and a bellowing skull head. Soon, it all disappeared into the air and left nothing but a pile of smoking thick red liquid on the ground. Being smarter, Igalis side-stepped far away from the sickening puddle.

**{[vv] ****DURAIYVR – PHASE OUT**** [vv]}**

At the call of _Motorgrad_, his sword broke apart into digital particles. Altogether it dissolved into the air and reverted back to his tear-shaped watch, rotating it on the spot to point backwards. Igalis let out a long sigh of relief. His attention then turned to Suzu and Machi, who were standing nearby, and he approached them both with a smile.

"Suzu, Machi, are both of your alright?"

"U'm, I'm fine."

"I am unharmed…thanks to you Igarisu-sama…"

"What about me…" The two girls and boy turned to the fourth voices as it woke out of its clobbered-slumber. Dazed, Ayane found herself hanging against Machi's back, "Eh? What happened? Where am I…"

Suzu opened her mouth to speak, but was caught off guard when Igalis placed a finger to his lips and winked. She glanced at Machi, who simply smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Eh…Nothing, nothing at all, Ayane. You simply challenged me to another duel and lost, remember?"

"HAH? HOW COULD I BE BESTED BY SUZU AGAIN! GRAH! THERE'S NO JUSTICE IN THIS WORLD!"

Ayane ranted in frustration as she was literally pulling at her hair. Igalis, Suzu, and Machi all broke out laughing as the other girl went on.

"So…this is what a Duraivyr is…"

The four altogether stopped and turned at the arrival of Obaba. She quietly waltzed into the woods, eyeing slightly at the bubbling red puddle that slowly seeped into the earth.

"That is correct, Obaba," answered Igalis.

"Then my guess," said Obaba, "that the mysterious creatures that I've been hearing about was that monster."

"Eh? What monster?" asked Ayane. Machi glanced at her sister for a second; before secretly pinching a pressure point on her neck to knock out the girl into a drooling sleep.

"U'm-u'm, Obaba. Another one like that attacked me, yesterday!" added Suzu.

"Hmm…this isn't good at all…" whispered the old lady, "Everyone here would be in grave danger then…"

"Please be assured, Obaba." The lady perked her gaze up to eye Igalis, as he smiled, "I'll make sure that the RAGE will harm absolutely no one on Airantou; especially Suzu and Machi." Both girls blushed at the reference of their names. "With _Motorgrad_, it can tell me where a RAGE is striking and allow me to destroy them. Plus, I'll volunteer in investigating the RAGEs' origins on the island." Obaba gave Igalis a quiet expression. It soon broke into a trusting grin.

"Then I'm counting on you, my dear grand-son-in-law."

"No problem at…Eh? Grand-son-in-law?"

Suzu surprised Igalis with a hug, "You're so amazing, Igarisu! I wish I could fight like you!"

"As much as I would like to wish for the same thing – Trust me, the training examination to become a Duraivyr is not something you would want to go through."

Igalis then felt a soft pair of hands hold onto his left hand and he turned. Machi shyly looked down, but would glance up at him whenever she could, "Arigatou…for rescuing me…Igarisu-sama." She sensed a tender hold around her fingers and she raised a blushing gaze to a bright-looking Duraivyr.

"I always protect the people I've come to like."


End file.
